life 






Virginia Coat of Arms 



BY-WAYS Ob" 



VIRGINIA HISTORY 



A JAMESTOWN MEMORL^L 



EMBHACJNU 



A SKETCH OF POCAHONTAS 



Bv K. H. EARLY 



RICHMOND. VA. 
HVKRF.TT WAUDKY COMPANY 

1907 






I LIBRARY of CONGRESS 

j Two Cooles Rocelved 

! JUL 1 1190? 
I 

'OoDvnsrhf tnity 

liLASa <«- XX.c, No. 
I COPY B. 

§ l-^" WlT I I —I 



Copyright 1907 
By R. H. early 



To those I 'irginiayii 

Who have used their tahmts to the honor of their 

Native State 

This Volume is 

Respectfully insc ribed. 



True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what 
deserves to be read and in so living, as to make the world happier and better 
for our living in it. — Pliny. 



PREFACE. 

The story of Virginia told in the details of her records 
lies undiscovered by the student who has not access to 
out-of-date volumes, family and county court papers, which 
teem with pathetic and humorous incident, as well as occur- 
rences of strictly historical import. Couched in the quaint 
language of the day, these unfamiliar notes contain envi- 
roning circumstances, the cause and effect, of events with 
which general history deals, including names which have 
passed from all remembrance. 

Interesting in themselves as embodying the thought and 
action of earlier times they testify to the heroic efforts made 
to establish a government on just principles and a per- 
manent basis under disadvantageous circumstances. If 
many of them have been repeated in writings which once 
won attention and continue to bear the stamp of authority, 
they are now little known, because the volumes are laid 
aside and the subjects are crowded out of histories treating 
of later interests. 

The fragments, gleamed from works, not in general circu- 
lation and collected together here, are presented as side- 
lights of history rather than its philosophy and no attempt 
is made to follow connectedly the course of events, the 
relation of which has become the oft-told tale of what 
transpired in the Colony known to her people as the Old 
Dominion. 

Reawakened interest in Jamestown and its associations 
serves to remind us of the importance of time and tide to 



4 PREFACE 

efface all remembrance of the past and inspires the sending 
forth of a memorial, to those who made that locality the 
theatre of their activities, in a handy book of reference, 
which while reviving former relations, is intended to recall 
the authors, — through whose exertions valuable documents 
have been preserv^ed, — whose names have long since been 
inscribed upon the roll of fame. 

In view of his disappearance from before Virginia's 
Camera, a chapter is devoted to the Indian, as representing 
the romantic phase of early colonial histor\', Pocahontas 
its inspiration ; since to exclude her from those pages, would 
signify that we ignore what largely conduced to the preser- 
vation of the settlement, when many causes were conspiring 
towards its destruction. Her life is so closely interwoven 
with that of the settlers, that it seems fitting to include the 
narrative of it in anv account recording the shifting scenes 
of early times. For surely the halo surrounding the figure 
of Pocahontas — who appeared before the adventurers first 
in the tragic tableau set in Powhatan's Council room — 
cannot be obscured by any distance of time, or discredit of 
the incredulous, whether she is regarded simply as an 
embodiment of charity exerting a benign influence over the 
endeavors of the settlers; or as the actual Indian girl, who 
in choosing to unite her hopes and interests with the Eng- 
lish, disarmed the antagonism of the natives, and by her 
helpfulness in making possible the planting of the colony 
projected, established a claim upon the gratitude of the 
colonists and that of their descendants. 

Other instances of friendliness had been inanifested by 
the Indian to the new-comer, but none had shown sufficient 
influence over the tril)es to insure anv continuance of the 
good will of those savage people. The recognition awarded 



PREFACE 5 

her by those who stamped their provincial seal with her 
image, gave countenance to her claim, which is increased by 
the fact that land now in our possession, was a portion of the 
heritage of her father, from which he parted to bestow upon 
the adventurous white brother, that he might have foot- 
hood in the land of his adoption. 

The chief aim of the compiler of the sketches here incor- 
porated has been accuracy of record, and in the search after 
historical material, there has been resort neither to tradition 
nor invention, in proof of which assertion, reference is 
given to the authorities quoted, in the following list. 

Yet remembering that criticism is more attentive to what 
is lacking than what is present and also the liability of those 
endeavoring to be most accurate, to make mistakes, for- 
bearance is asked where omission or error may be discovered. 

The public is respectfully informed that this collection 
is intended especially for those readers not conversant with 
the histor}^ of which the volume treats, and whose advan- 
tages for research being fewer, ma}^ benefit by the labor 
of one, who has given to it the best endeavors that earnest- 
ness can inspire. ' 



A[^TH()RITIES QUOTED. 

Bancroft's History United States. 

Belknap's Biographies of Early Discoverers. * 

Beverley's Historical Collections of Virginia. 

Brown's Genesis of America. 

Byrd's Westover Manuscripts. 

Chas. Campbell's History of the Colony and Ancient 

Dominion of Virginia. 
Collin's Historical Sketches. 
County Court Records. 
Dinwiddic Papers. 
De Bry. (Hariot's Report.) 
Foote's Sketches of Virginia. 
Graham's United States of North America. 
Grigsby's Convention, 1776. 
Hay^vood's History of Tennessee. 
Henning's Statutes At Large. 
Hope's Wreath of Virginia Bay Lea^•es; 
Howe's Great West. 
Howe's Outlines xnd Anticpiities. 
Howison's History of Virginia. 
Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. 
Jones' Present State of Virginia. 
Library of American History. 
Macaulay's History of England. 
Marshall's History of Kentucky. 
Maury's Virginians. 
Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee. 
Ramsay's History of United States. 
Smith's History of Virginia. 
Stith's History of Virginia. 
Wheeler's History of North CaroHna. 
Wirt's Life of Henrv; and others.' 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHAPTER I. 
Conditions in England in the Sixteenth Century. Dawn of 

Enterprise 1 1 

CHAPTER II. 
Raleigh the Ad\-enturer, Trials and Failure 25 

CHAPTER III. 
John Smith, Soldier of Fortune and Recorder of History 36 

CHAPTER IV. 
Robert Beverle^^ the First Native Historian. Rev. Hugh 

. Jones '4 7 

CHAPTER V. 
.William Stith, Parson and Writer; his Printer, Parks 59 

CHAPTER YI. 
A Notable Trio of the Nineteenth Century: — Burk, Hening, 

Jefferson 75 

CHAPTER VII. 
Late Hist(;rians; — Howe, Howison, Campbell 85 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The London Company's Venture. Dangers and Difficulties 

of Settlement 99 

CHAPTER IX. 
Hope Revived. Martial Law 113 

CHAPTER X. 
Establishment of Representative Government. A Gov- 
ernor Unique in Character 122 

CHAPTER XI. 

Forts and Fortifications i^i 



8 CONTENTS 

Page. 
CHAPTER XII. 
A Circulating Medium of Exchange. A Poisonous Weed as a 

Legal Tender 139 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Early Colonial Dames 152 

CHAPTER XIV. 
A Cavalier of the Old School 159 

CHAPTER XV. 

Delineation of the Country. Augustus Herman's Map with 

Series 174 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Fomiation of Cities 186 

CHAPTER XVII. 
The Knight o*' the Golden Horseshoe 208 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Rival Claimants 225 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Stone Inscriptions 232 

CHAPTER XX. 

Awakening of National Genius 238 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Father of his Countrv 242 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Requiescat in Pace 257 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
The Question of Labor 264 



CONTENTS 9 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Colony and State Boundaries 277 

CHAPTER XXV. 
County Chronicles -9^ 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Struggle for Liberty ,....,..' 3^5 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Evolution of Republican Government oS- 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The Noble Red Man. Legend 7,1^ 

APPENDIX. 
List of Presidents, Governors, etc.. of Virginia 422 

County Formations 425 



By- Ways of Virginia History 

CHAPTER 1. 

Conditions ix England in the Sixteenth Century. 
Dawn of Enterprise. 

"The origin of the American nation, and the rise and progres.s 
of all its institutions may be distinctly known. " 

To understand the manner of people who settled upon 
Virginia's shore, we need to refer to the recorder familiar 
with the conditions in England, at the period antedating 
the first atteinpts at discovery, and the causes inducing 
the incorporators to undertake the experiment of planting 
a colony at so great a distance from their ow-n country. 

Preparatory to a narrative of English history from the 
accession of James II down to a time "within the memory 
of men still living." Macaulay drew a slight sketch of his 
countr\- from the earliest times. In this outline he did 
not cite his authorities "for he did not use recondite mate- 
rials and the facts mentioned were such that a person toler- 
ably well-read in English history, if not already apprized 
of them, would know where to look for evidence of them. " 

From these pages we learn that the constitutional checks 
on misgovernment were kept in the highest state of 
efficiency, restraining the oppression of monarchs. The 
peculiar relation in which the nobility stood to the com- 
monalty, originating at an early period and continuing in 
force, produced many moral and political effects. There 
was a strong hereditary aristocracy, but it was neither 
insolent nor exclusive, and had none of the invidious char- 
acter of caste. Constantly receiving members from the 



12 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

people and constantly sending members to mingle with the 
people, any gentleman might become a peer; the younger 
son of a peer was but a gentleman. Grandsons of peers 
)uelded precedence to newly-made knights and the dignity 
of knighthood was not beyond the reach of any man, who 
could attract notice to his valor in a battle or siege. 

England had long enjoyed a large measure of freedom 
and happiness to which several causes conduced. From 
the union of order and freedom sprang a prosperity of 
which the annals of human affairs had furnished no example. 
The nation's success in arts and arms was celebrated; its 
civilization was based upon a variety of pursuits and the 
subdivision of labor of a kind and degree unknown to 
continental Europe. Its insular position and naval power 
gave it advantages for forming colonies and extending its 
commerce. 

In this introduction is included the relation of how the 
new settlement was during many troubled years success- 
fully defended against foreign and domestic enemies ; under 
that settlement, the authority of law and the security of 
property were found to be compatible with a liberty of 
discussion and of individual action never before known, 
and the British Colonies in America rapidly, became far 
mightier and wealthier than the realms which Cortez and 
Pizarro added to the dominions of Charles V. 

Following this explanatory sketch, Macaulay spread 
upon ample leaves the story of his people and their govern- 
ment, With the accounts of the progress of useful and orna- 
mental arts; the rise of religious sects and the changes of 
literary taste; the manners of successive generations; — 
giving such a clear transcript of valuable material, and so 
agreeably, as won for his book, a place beside imaginative 
works, the popular novels of the day. 



BV'-Tr.41'5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY' 13 

The tide of prosperit}-^ and progress he truthfully describes 
reached the shores of the colony then dependent upon 
England for being and existence, and flowed in steady 
waves of agricultural interests and efforts over the country. 

Grahame prefaced his history of "the United States of 
North America, from the Plantation of the English Colonies 
to the establishment of their Independence," with the 
admission that he was sensible of a strong predilection in 
favor of America and the Colonial side in the great contro- 
versies between her people and the British government. 
Against this bias he guards, that he might write without 
partiality and without hypocrisy, the most important 
requisite of historical composition being truth, a requisite 
of which the sincerity of the historian is insufiEicient to 
assure us, as he frequently encounters a perplexing variety 
of dissimilar causes and diverging effects among which it is 
important, yet difficult, to discriminate. In his examina- 
tions and comparisons of records he was often reminded of 
Sir Robert Walpole's assurance to his son that "history 
must be false." 

Writing in 1827 this Scotch historian finds that infor- 
mation concerning the early history of many of the Amer- 
ican provinces, which the public libraries of Great Britain 
are capable of supplying, are amazingly scanty ; therefore, 
after borrowing and purchasing all the material to be pro- 
cured in Britain, he made a journey to Gottingen, where he 
found an ampler collection of North American literature 
than all the English libraries could supply, yet even with 
this rich repository' he could not be content because he did 
not find there certain other works, important to him for 
reference, known to exist. 



14 hV-lVAYS OF VIRGIXIA lUSrORY 

It is this historian who encourages Americans to believe 
that thev may acquire an accurate acquaintance with the 
character of their earhest national ancestors and of every 
succeeding generation through whom the inheritance of the 
national name and fortunes has devolved to themselves. 
And he arouses their pride in those ancestors by the infor- 
mation that the existence of the people of the United States 
originated in the noblest efforts of wisdom, fortitude and 
magnanimity ; and that successive aquisitions have extended 
liberty and happiness, till respect for antiquity l^ecomes 
the motive of virtue and the whole nation should feel itself 
ennobled by ancestors Avhose renown will continue the 
honor or the Teproach of their successors. 

Grahame graphically explains the causes retarding 
America's settlement and in the recital discloses the fact 
that the demon, graft, now grown to such gigantic propor- 
tions, is not an invention of the twentieth centur}', but had 
been evoked by an European nation over three centuries 
ago. And also he records the lesson taught a superior, bv a 
less civilized ruler, of fairness and honesty, a lesson for all 
men and times, that no people, however powerful, in their 
endeavor to extend their selfish interests, may long infringe 
upon the rights of others. 

Here Macaulay adds his testimony to Grahame's, inform- 
ing us that English sovereigns had always been entrusted 
with the direction of commercial police. It was their 
prerogative to regulate coin, weights and measures; and to 
appoint fairs, markets and ports. The line of their author- 
ity being loosely drawn, they encroached on the province 
which belonged to the legislature. This encroachment was 
borne until it became serious. When in i6ot Elizabeth 
took upon herself to grant patents of monopolies bv scores, 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 15 

the House of Commons met in an angry and determined 
mood. In vain a courtly minority blamed the speaker for 
suffering the acts of her highness to be called in question. 
Menacing was echoed b}' the voice of the whole nation, 
which exclaimed that the prerogative should not be suffered 
to touch the liberties of Old England. There seemed danger 
that Elizabeth's glorious reign would have a disastrous end. 
She however declined the contest; put herself at the head 
of the reforming party, redressed the grievance; thanked 
the Commons for their care of the general weal and 
brought back to herself the hearts of the people. 

She had granted Raleigh a patent to license the vending 
of wines throughout the kingdom, " of the injustice of which 
he was not unconscious, for when the spirit of resistance 
shewed itself, and a member of the House of Commons 
inveighed against it," Sir Walter was observed to blush. 
Afterwards he voted for the abolition of such monopolies 
and no one could have made a more munificent use of such 
emoluments than he, in his efforts to effect the discovery 
and colonization of Virginia. " Stith confirms this in saying 
that the license for vending wine was supposedly designed 
to enable Raleigh, by the profits, to sustain the vast charges 
of his undertaking. 

Before the exhibition of queenly discretion had restored 
her people's faith, Elizabeth was trying her prerogative 
beyond the limits of her own kingdom, and her trial and 
ultimate discomfiture, are thus related by Grahame. 

"The reign of Elizabeth was productive of the first 
attempt that the English made to establish a permanent 
settlement in America. But many causes contributed to 
enfeeble their exertions for this purpose, and to retard the 
accomplishment of this great design. 



16 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"The civil government of Elizabeth, in the commence- 
ment of her reign, was highh'- acceptable to her subjects; 
and her commercial poHcy, though frequently perverted 
by the interests of arbitrary power and principles of an 
erroneous system, was not less laudibly designed than 
judiciously directed, to the cultivation of their resources 
and the promotion of their prosperity. 

"By permitting a free exportation of corn, she promoted 
the agriculture and commerce of England and by treaties 
with foreign powers, she endeavored to establish commercial 
relations between their subjects and her own. She obtained 
from John Basilides, the Czar of Muscovy, a patent which 
conferred the whole trade of his dominions on the English ; 
but his son, Theodore revoked it, and answered, to the 
Queen's remonstrances, that he was determined to rob 
neither his own subjects nor foreigners, by subjecting to 
monopolies, what should be free to all mankind. 

"So superior was the commercial policy, which natural 
justice taught this barbarian , to the system derived from 
boasted learning and renowned ability, which loaded the 
freedom and industry of the people with patents, monopo- 
lies and exclusive companies." 

An English work casting some light on the establishment 
of the colony, and which appeared in 1738, is called, "The 
History of British Plantations in America with a Chrono- 
logical Account of the most remarkable Things which hap- 
pened to the first Adventurers in their several Discoveries 
of that New World." Parti, containing the History of 
Virginia, With Remarks, on the Trade and Commerce of 
that Colony — by Sir William Keith, Bart. London; printed 
at the Expence of the society for the Encouragement of 
Learning, by S. Richardson; and sold by A. Millar at 



BY-\VA)'S OF VIRG/XIA HISTORY 17 

Biichanon's Head in the Strand, J. Nourse at Temple 
Bar, and J. Gray in the Poultry — Booksellers to the Society. 
MDCCXXXVlil. (Price Four Shillings in Sheets.) 

"To the Reader," Keith introduces his work with the 
remarks that "Although there is not any thing more requi- 
site, to explain the History of'a Country, than an exact and 
complete Map to which the Reader has continual Occasion 
to have Recourse, and that those here presented are the latest 
and best of the kind that could be got; yet it must be 
own'd they are not so perfect as could be wished, because to 
make an exact and careful survey of a large Country is such 
an expensive and laborious Work, as can only be executed 
by Order at the Charge of the Public. Whereof it is to be 
hoped, that as the British Plantations on the Continent in 
America are daily increasing, both in Extent and Value, 
the public Spirit which influences the Conduct of the Legis- 
lative Body will, some time or other, induce them to enable 
His Majesty to give proper Directions, That the several 
Governors may cause exact surveys to be made of the 
Colonies, over which they respectively preside. 

"There is one thing more for which I am sorry there 
should be any Occasion to make an Apology, namely, the 
Want of a distinct and particular Account of the Exports 
and Imports in Trade to and from Virginia; for after a 
most assiduous and respectful Application to the proper 
Officers from whence these Accounts only can be had, it 
was told me, in a very civil Manner that such Things cotild 
not be granted without Orders from Above; which I had 
no Room to expect, because I could not be favored with 
Access to view the Books and Papers relating to the Plan- 
tations in any of our public Offices or to receive the least 
assistance of that Kind in the Prosecution of this well- 
intended and (as it is presumed) useful Work. 



18 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

"The accounts hitherto pubHshed of these Colonies have 
been found imperfect and deficient in many things of which 
it has been thought necessary that the PubHc should be 
truly and more fully informed. 

"There is something so grave and solemn in History that 
it necessarity affects the honest Reader with that awful 
Respect which an impartial Historian always pays to 
Truth; for if the Writer keeps a Strict Guard over his Pas- 
sions, not suffering them to be any ways interested in the 
Facts and Circumstances which he is indispensably obliged 
to relate, — though some few may wish that several things 
had not been so openly exposed to public View,--yet the 
impartial Reader will doubtless make use of the Mirror set 
before him to correct for the future, according to his own 
Judgment and Ability, the Errors of former Times. 

"Whoever endeavors to alienate the dutiful Affection of 
the Subject in the Plantations or the paternal Tenderness of 
Great Britain, with a view to private Gain is an Enemy to 
the inseparable Interest of both-— to the public interest of 
the British State — in any Shape to countenance and suffer 
the Subjects in the Plantations to be oppressed, an Infringe- 
ment of the Liberties of the people of Great Britain and 
Offense against the State, the comfortable Support and 
Preservation of whose Parts is essential to the public Good 
of the Whole. 

"America, accidentally discovered, led the first Writers 
into a multitude of very wild and extravagant Relations, 
which have been injudiciously received as a Part of the 
History of those times. In 1495-6 during the reign of 
Henr}^ VII, John Cabot, a man perfectly skilled in all the 
sciences requisite to form an accomplished mariner and who 
caused his sons to be educated in the same manner, — gained 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 19 

favorable attention of the king, who granted him a com- 
mission of discovery. The famous discovery of Cohimbus 
caused great admiration and much discourse in the court of 
Henry, among the merchants of England. But the king 
became so deeply engaged in a war with Scotland that his 
discoveries were neglected. Sebastian Cabot, an English 
subject, received from Edward VI. a yearly Pension of 
,■^160.13.4. sterling during his Life as appears by letters 
Patent, dated at Westminster Jan. 6, 1548. But not now 
seeing any opening in England, he offered his services to 
Spain and became chief Pilot to the Emperor. 

"In 1 540 America was by so many expeditions sufficiently 
discovered, to put the Reality of such a vast continent out 
of all doubt, and the uncommon spirit for Trade and the 
new Channels it had discovered, gave occasion for great 
Improvements in the Arts of Ship-building and Navigation. 
Innumerable Vcr\^ages and Expeditions multiplied Ex- 
changes and enlarged the views of the Merchants every 
where. 

"The Memoirs which pass under the name of the incom- 
parable Genius and great Statesman, Mr. John de Wit, 
contain a most valuable collection of elegant Observations 
on Trade and Government, and take notice of the great 
advantages which must in time accrue to Great Britain 
from its large Settlements on the American Continent. 

"When any English Plantation in America came to be 
settled, the first Application was to maintain Liberty and 
property by providing for an equal Distribution of Justice 
without any Respect of Persons." (There follows the 
account of Raleigh's ventures 1584-5; and the course of 
subsequent colonial history, based upon Smith's and other 
colonist's relations.) 



20 B]'-WA]'S or MRGIXJA IIJSTOR]' 

Keith is accused of following Beverle\- very closely ; and 
where these two and Oldmixon give the date of the first 
Assembly as taking place in 1620, Howison calls them an 
erring trio, characterizing them, generally, as prejudiced 
and superficial. 

In his remarks on the Trade and Government of Virginia, 
Keith gives it as his opinion that "Although great advan- 
tages mav accrue to the mother state both from the labour 
and luxury of its plantations, yet, tliey will proljably be 
mistaken, who imagine that the advancement of literature 
and the improvement of arts and sciences, in our American 
Colonies, can ever be of anv service to the British state,"' 
an opinion, prophetic of the causes and struggles of the war 
for Independence, and the final severance of the Colonies. 

Throtigh the repeated records of all history, it is known, 
that by the persistent efforts and daring of Columbus, the 
islands along the American coast were first discovered. 
His brilliant achievements excited the ardor of enterprise, 
especialh- in Spain and Fortngal, but gave him little besides 
the glory of the exploit, and to his native country only the 
honour due his birthplace. Since his day Italy has delighted 
to honor so distinguished a son, and among the memorials 
erected there is none more beautiful, than the bust, exhib- 
ited in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, in the Protomoteca, 
the palace of the Conservatory This especial exhibition 
hall is a long corridor, formed bv Pius VII. for a collection 
of busts of celebrated Italians, especially those who have 
distinguished themselves in art and science. 

Failure elsewhere to secure material encouragement had 
induced Columbus to send his brother to the English court, 
to solicit the aid of Henry VII, in his project of maritime 

! Keith p. 187 




Christ'r Columbus. Capitolene Museum, Rome. 



22 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

adventure; and that king's notice was attracted by the gift 
of a niap.2 which was accepted with a joyful countenance, 
and the donor was bidden " to fetch his brother. " But the 
mission was so delayed, by the illness and capture of the 
messenger, that before its success could be communicated, 
the discover}^ had been accomplished; which induced the 
English king to listen to later proposals. 

An eager desire prevailed to discover a passage through 
America leading to India, (the land of golden dreams) which 
might prove nearer than that by the Cape of Good Hope. 
Sebastian Cabot conceived the hope that the islands found 
by Columbus were not far from the Indian continent. His 
father, Giovanni Gabato — a native of Venice, settled in 
Bristol with other compatriot merchants, — applied for and 
received a commission of discovery from Henry VII. on 
March 5th, 1495; availing himself of which he embarked, 
with his three sons, at Bristol in 1497 in a ship, attended by 
four small vessels equipped by merchants of that city. 

The second son, Sebastian, born in England, -'' greatly 
excelled his father in genius and nautical science, and to 
him must be ascribed all the discoveries associated with the 
name of Cabot .^ The first approach towards the country, to 
which later Elizabeth gave the name of Virginia, was made 
by him. 

Guided by the discovery of the Genoese, he pursued the 
same track, and continuing a westerly course, reached the 
continent of North America, and sailed along from Labra- 

- Hakluyt III. p. 22. On the map the date 1488 is written "The yeere of Grace, 
a thousand and four hundred and fourscore. And eight and on the eighteenth day 
of February more. Bartholomew, Colon de Terra, Rubra. In London published 
this worke. To Christ all laud therefore, (foot-note Howe, p. 13.) 

3 Bancroft 1. p. 8. 

•• Grahame. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 23 

dor to the coast of Virginia, thus achieving the merit of 
being the first to discover the continent stretching from the 
Gulf of Mexico towards the North Pole. He did not 
attempt a footing on the continent and England, torn by 
civil wars, was too much engrossed now to claim the right 
of property from priority of discovery. Her only immediate 
benefit from the enterprise was the importation of turkeys, 
the first seen in the western part of Europe. ^ 

The commission granted to John Cabot and his three 
sons, their heirs and deputies, gave them "liberty to sail to 
all ports, of east, west and north, under the royal banners 
and ensigns ; to discover countries of the heathen unknown 
to Christians ; to set up the king's banners there ; to occupy 
and possess as his subjects, such places as they could sub- 
due, giving them the rule and jurisdiction of the same, to 
be holden on condition of paying to the king, as often as 
they should arrive at Bristol (at which place only they were 
permitted to anive) in wares and merchandise, one-fifth 
part of all their gains: with exemption from all customs 
and duties on such merchandise as should be brought from 
their discoveries. "Orders were given for two Caravels to 
be victualled at public expense and freighted by the mer- 
chants of London and Bristol, with coarse cloths and other 
articles of traflfic. There were 300 men in the company. 
The accounts of the voyage are preserved by Hakluyt.® 

After Cabot's time no deliberate design was made to fol- 
low up the advantages gained by the enterprise; matters 
nearer at hand occupied the nation's attention, till the reign 
of Elizabeth developed measures for the establishment of 
the American Colonies. 



5 We read of turkeys being used in Greece earlier. 
^ Belknap. 



24 BV-WAVS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In 1578 the bold navigator, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, — 
who as a member of the House of Commons in 1571, had 
strenuously defended the Queen's prerogative against the 
charge of monopoly — formed a design of engaging in useful 
colonization. Elizabeth '^ granted him a patent for the dis- 
covering, occupying and peopling of "such remote, heathen 
and barbarous countries as were not actually possessed bv 
any Christian people." 

When he was preparing for his vovage, she sent him a 
golden anchor with a large pearl at the peak and Raleigh 
(his half-brother) accompanied the present with this letter, 
"A token from her majesty, an anchor guided by a lady, and 
farther, her highness willed me to send you word that she 
wished you as great hap and safety to your ship as if 
herself were there in person. " 

In consequence of his grant, manv of his friends joined 
him and preparations were made for the expedition which 
promised to be advantageous, but failed and in it Gilbert 
had sunk much of his private fortune. To make a second 
attempt he had to sell his estate and again assisted by 
friends, he set sail from Plymouth June 11, 1 583 and landing 
on the eastern coast of Newfoundland, took formal pos- 
session in consequence of Cabot's discovery ; but this expe- 
dition cost the life of the fearless projector, and with the 
loss of their commander, the enterprise was abandoned 
and the adventurers dispersed. 



' Purchas calls the queen "the victorious Deborah 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 25 



CHAPTER II. 

Raleigh, the Adventurer. Trials and Failure. 

"One planned the Saxon's Empire o'er these lands 

His piercing eyes anhungered in their glances for a world 

That he might win by daring enterprise — • 

A man to note as one who shot his arrows straitway at the sun."' 

Following a recital of English commercial enterprise, 
which, disappointed in one quarter, was desirous of turning 
its attention to another, Grahame introduces Sir Walter 
Raleigh "the originator of the settlements which grew up 
in North America" and relates how the maiden queen in 
granting a new patent, was graciously pleased to bestow 
it upon this favorite, authorizing him to discover and 
appropriate all barbarous lands unoccupied by Christian 
powers. 

"Raleigh projected the establishment of a colony in 
that quarter of America, which Cabot had visited. The 
lands were to be held by the crown of England, with the 
obligation of paying a fifth part of the produce of all gold 
and silver mines; it permitted the subjects of Elizabeth 
to accompany the expedition and guaranteed them a con- 
tinuance of the enjoyment of all the rights of free denizens 
of England. Strange as it may appear, the provision was 
absolutely necessary to evade the obstruction of the exist- 
ing law. 

By an ancient law, as declared in the Great Charter of 
King John all men might go freely out of the kingdom 

1 "Three Names" from the "Wreath of Virginia Bay Leaves.' Jas. Barron Hope. 





1 


l"^ '^^^1 


■ 




P 


- H'iHB 


H| 




\ 


-^i^^^^^^^^H 


^^H 


^m " 


M 




Uiu 


■ ' ",*•« 






■H 


^K 'J g^^^ 






^^■i 


^LrV*?l9 






^^HH 



Sir Walter Raleigh. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 27 

saving their faith due to the king. But no such clause 
appears in the charter of his successor and during the reign 
of Elizabeth it was enacted that any subject departing the 
realm without a license, under the Great Seal, should forfeit 
his personal estate and lose the profits of his lands for life. " 

Not disheartened by the fate of his relative, Raleigh the 
next year, collected his associates and effected the equip- 
ment of an expedition, which, sailing southward, anchored 
in Roanoke bay, and upon their return to England pub- 
lished flattering accounts of the hospitality of the people, 
mildness of the climate and the fertility of the soil; the 
intelligence of which diffused general satisfaction and 
enabled Raleigh to complete the arrangements for a per- 
manent settlement, under the command of Grenville in 
August, 1585. 

Of this party was Thomas Hariot,^ "who endeavored to 
impress upon the minds of the natives, a proper sense of a 
Superior Being and succeeded so far with the king Wingina 
that when he was attacked by illness, this chief sent to beg 
the attendance and prayers of the English ; for he and some 
of his subjects acknowledged that the God of the strangers 
was more powerful and beneficent to his people than the 
deities they served. And when they shewed anxiety to 
touch the Bible and apply it to their breasts and heads, 
Hariot sought to convince them that salvation was to be 
obtained by acquaintance with the contents of the book 
and not by veneration of its exterior." 

Disappointed in their search for gold mines, straitened 
for provisions and surrounded by enemies, these, the first 
colonists landed in America, abandoned the country, being 
conducted back to England by Drake in 1586. 

- Whom Belknap calls a "skilful mathematician and curious observer." 



28 /^r-ir.4r5 of virgixia history 

To them is due all the credit for importing the know- 
ledge of tobacco into Great Britain, which grew to be the 
most cherished luxury of a great part of her people. This 
weed was called by the natives uvpowoc. 

Unaware of the decision of his colonists, Raleigh had 
dispatched a supply of provisions and a fortnight later a 
second supply of men, in three ships conducted by Gren- 
ville. Of these fifty men-^ (?) were landed at Roanoke 
and the rest returned to England to communicate the state 
of affairs. 

The following year the resourceful Raleigh sent again 
three ships under Capt. White, with a charter " to White 
and twelve associates as Governor and Assistants of the 
City of Raleigh, and though their apprehensions were 
excited by the melancholy spectacle of a ruined fort and 
scattered bones, White and his companions determined to 
remain and proceeded to repair the houses and revive the 
colonv. But needing some articles thev deemed essential 
to comfort and preservation they sent White to England 
to solicit these requisites." 

It was on the occasion of touching port in Ireland upon 
this return voyage that White left specimens of the potato* 



•^ Hakluyt and Bancroft say 15 men, but it seems scarcely credible that so small 
a num})er would consent to be left, at the mercy of large bodies of savages, in a coun- 
try so little known to them. 

■• Thomas Hariot gives the first description of the potato, introduced from America 
into Ireland, which, after Raleigh's experiment with it in his garden was planted 
all over Ireland. Prejudice prevented its adoption, in England, for many years 
and this at last was only accomplished by means of premiums; when the poorer 
people ventured to use a root they had hitherto eschewed. 

In France its advocates were mol)bed for endeavoring to force upon the people, 
food which would poison them. Finally the success of its introduction was secured 
through the finesse of a celebrated philanthropist who planted a field of potatoes 
over which he placed a guard with instructions to permit all thieving possible. 

Convinced of the value of a vegetable, which needed such watchful care, prejudice 
disappeared in the desire to test Its merits, and the people managed to steal nearly 
the whole crop. 



er-ir.n'.s- of virgixi \ history 29 

plant brought from America, which, though difficult to 
introduce, became the staple article of diet. 

" In the yeere 1587 there were sent thither above 1 00 men, 
women and children and from that time untill the 3rd 
yeere (1606) of king James all yeerely sending thither for 
plantation ceased." 

When White arrived, though England was engrossed in 
efforts for defense against the Spanish Armada, Raleigh 
exerted himself for the relief of his colonists, equipping a 
squadron for that purpose. His object, however was 
defeated by the queen, who detained these ships by force. 

The next year White* successfully conducted a relief 
expedition but found the territory ev^acuated by the people 
who had been left and no tidings of their destiny could be 
obtained. 

This last venture was dispatched, not bv Raleigh, but his 
successors in the American patent: as a multiplicity of new 
undertakings were now occupying his energies and it 
became impossible for him to continue the efl'orts he had 
devoted to his Virginia Colony, he transferred his patent. 

His assignment of this patent March 7th, 1589 was made 
to Thomas vSmith and other merchants and adventurers. 
Though disengaged from the business Raleigh sent five 
times to seek for his friends, the last attempt being in 1602, 
a year only before his imprisonment. 

One of the societv of Councillors and Adventurers, to 
whom this work was assigned, w^as the Revd Richard Hak- 

* Belknap says that it was with much reluctance White had consented to leave 
the colony, when it had lieen found necessary that some person should return to 
England for further supplies, after his second voyage in 1587. A dispute arising in 
the Council as to who should go, after much altercation it was determined, that the 
Governor was the most proper person to he sent on this errand. The whole company 
joined in urging him, promising to take care of his interest in his absence. He con- 
sented on their suh^eribinsr .') testimonial to his unwillingness to quit the plantation. 



30 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

luyt," prebendary of Westminster (at one time of St. 
Augustine's church, Bristol) a man of eminent attainments 
in naval and commercial knowledge, the patron and advisor 
of many of the English expeditions of discovery, the corres- 
pondent of the leaders who conducted them and the histo- 
rian of their exploits. 

"A laborious compiler who chose for his department of 
history the discoveries of his countrymen ," his works were 
first published in 1600 and republished in 1809. 

In his "Collection of Voyages" Churchill says Hakluyt's 
"Discoveries" are valuable for the good there to be picked 
out. One of the late Virginia historians,^ appreciating the 
service of this Associator — "a man of great learning and 
indefatigable industry," — feels that America owes Hak- 
luyt a heavy debt of gratitude, as through his chronicles, 
information is preserved of the work accomplished, and of 
the vast extent of country originally bearing the name of 
Virginia. "The whole continent of North America front- 
ing upon the Atlantic Ocean was called Virginia long before 
any portion of that particular district that now bears this 
name had been discovered." 

Belknap suggests that the name Virginia was intended 
to signify that the country retained its virgin purity and' 
the people their primitive simplicity. 

The eminent mathematician, Thomas Hariot (a name 
written Heriot by the earlier historians) came to Raleigh's 
knowledge through his skill in mathematics ; and was sent 
by vSir Walter to Virginia in 1585, where he was employed 
during his year's sojourn in the discovering and surveying of 

' Hakluyt wrote for Raleigh in 1584 "A particular discourse conoeming the neces- 
sitie and manifold Comodyties that are like to grow to this Realms of England by 
the Westerne Discoveries." Brown. 

' Howison, Vol 1. p. 89. 



51'-Tl'.41'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 31 

the country. Upon his return he pubHshed the result of 
his labors in "A Brief and True Report of the Newfound 
Land of Virginia"* London, 1588, which was dedicated to 
Raleigh.^ This astute adventurer, in the selection of his 
agents for carrying out his plans, chose wisely. Another 
member of his expedition of 1585, whose labors were not all 
wasted, was Captain John White, who made maps of the 
country and drawings of the natives, " their habits, employ- 
ments, diversions and superstitions," illustrations which 
were utilized by De Bry, Beverley and others. White con- 
tinued his interest in American colonization, in associating 
himself with those to whom Raleigh assigned the greater 
part of his patent in 1589,- -conducting several of the expe- 
ditions himself. 

"The topographical description of the country "and its 
natural hitsory" written by Hariot, was translated into 
Latin and published by De Bry in his collection of voyages, 
at which time De Bry also had engraven and printed 
White's drawings, at Frankfort in 1590; and this work 
" Theodoms de Bry" also dedicated to Raleigh. His dedi- 
cation reads: 

"To the Right Worthie and Honourable vSir Walter 
Raleigh, Knight. Seeing that the part of the Worlde, 
named Virginia, to the honneur of queen Elizabeth, discov- 
ered by yr means And great charges And that yr Colony 
hath been theer established to yr great honnor and prayse 
and no lesser proffit unto the commonwealth. It is good 
raison that every man exert himself for to showe the benefit 
which they have receue of yt. Theerfore for my parte I 
have been allwayes Desirous for to make you knowe the 



* Preserved in [lakluyt'.s "Collection of V^oyages," Vol III. p. 226. 
' Brown. 



32 ^r-ir.4r-s- of Virginia history 

good will that T have to remayiie still your most humble 
servant I have thincke that I could faynde no better occa- 
sion to declare vt then takinge the paynes to cott in copper 
the Figures which do lovelye represent the forme and 
manner of the Inhabitants of the same Countrye wdth theer 
ceremonies, sollemne feasts and the manner of the Townes 
or Villages. Moreover I have thincke that the aforesaid 
figures wear of greater Commendation If some Historic 
which traitin of the time" (here is given the reason for 
reprinting Hariot's Report) "Published Apprill 1590." 

White's map of Virginia, the first ever made, was drawn 
in 1585 and used by De Bry to locate the Newfound Land. 
He entitles this "America pars Nunc Virginia dicta pri- 
mum ab Anglis, etc., Autori, Joanne Witt, Scultori, Theor- 
dore de' Bry" size 11.25x15.25. Translation converted 
tlie English name of White, from the Latin back into the 
original tongue, as Witt or Withe and as late as i860, 
Campbell so gives it. 

Another niistake through the translation of this Latin 
edition, originated the supposition that Raleigh came to 
Virginia with the colony in 15S5. The English narrative 
reads "the actions of those who have been by Sir Walter 
Raleigh therein employed" while the translators reported 
that Raleigh went and others accompanied him.'" 

Raleigh started for Am.erica with Gilbert's expedition in 
the fall of 1578, having command of the Falcon. We have 
seen that Gilbert was forced to return, after embarking on 
this voyage. Yet Beverley asserts that Raleigh came to the 
land of Cape Hatteras in searcli of the Colonists, whom 
Drake had carried away. 

lostith. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 33 

In writing of Raleigh's voyage to Guiana, Brown tells of 
his return to England, when he sailed past our whole coast 
via Newfoundland, ''his nearest approach to Virginia." 

The discovery of Chesapeake bay, (which he had been 
informed had the significant meaningof " motherof waters") 
Henry Howe thinks'' was the greatest advantage accruing 
from Raleigh's expeditions. But Campbell is of the opinion 
that this water was the same as the Bay of Santa Maria, 
explored by Morquez, governor of Florida in 1575; and 
his belief is confirmed by a map in a rare work, in French 
dated 1676 entitled "Tourbe Ardante," where he finds the 
Chesapeake called St. Mary's Bay. (This work was shewn 
Campbell by the librarian of the Pennsylvania Historical 
Society.) Also he had further confirmation from a "Memoir 
on the first discovery of the Chesapeake," by Greenhow, 
published by the Virginia Historical Society in 184S.'- 

\Ve have to thank Raleigh for the name, Virginia which 
originating at the time of his ventures, was preserved to 
specify that part of the country later confined within the 
limits of the colony discovered and settled, under the patent 
of James I. And though all honor should be accorded Smith 
as the preserver of the settlement finally established, the 
title of founder belongs, with justice, to Raleigh, whose 
exertions gave an impulse in a direction which had not 
spent its force, a bias to the national mind, which united 
their views and hopes, by association with colonization in 
America, so that plans began to be formed in various parts 
of the kingdom which ultimated in further experiments, 
happily more fortunate than his, but with all the advantage 
to be gained from his experience. The bitterness of Ral- 

" Outline of History, pp. 19, 22. 

'-' Campbell. Footnotps, pp. 18, 19, History of Virginia, 1860. 



34 Z?r-n'.41'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

eigh's death merits the regretful sympathy of the country 
he fain would have benefited. 

Turning from the consideration of the disappointments 
and wasted efforts, the sacrifice of life and substance, the 
mysterious disappearance of the colonists and sad end of 
that learned and valiant spirit, of whom it is said "there 
never was a distinguished reputation so much indebted to 
genius and so little to success" — we will review the induce- 
ments for renewed efforts and the more fortunate venture 
under the auspices of a new patent granted to a new com- 
pany by the Virgin Queen's successor upon the English 
throne. 

Gosnold's report, after his voyage made during the last 
year of Elizabeth's reign of a shorter route to North Amer- 
ica, a healthy climate, fertile soil and coast with excellent 
harbours "which they reluctantly quitted" served to stim- 
ulate further exertions and in 1603, by Hakluyt's persua- 
sion, two vessels were fitted out, by the merchants of Bris- 
tol,'-^ which were sent to verify Gosnold's statement by 
examining his discoveries and which returning " gave ample 
confirmation of his veracity." 

A second expedition this same year was sent from Lon- 
don under Gilbert (Capt. Bartholomew). Again in 1605 
an expedition on a similar errand reported so much addi- 
tional testimony in fa\'or of the country, that an association, 
formed of wealthy and influential citizens presented a 
petition to the king for his sanction of a plan formed for 
settlement and his authority for its execution. 

We find that England at this time possessed a population 
considered redundant in consequence of inadequate means 

13 Campbell, p. 29. "The Mayor, Aldermen and Merchants of Bristol dispatched 
an expedition under Captain Pring in 1603." 



B^'-WAYS OF VIRGINIA- HISTORY 35 

afforded by her limited commerce and inefficient agi^culture. 
Further the pacific and timid character of James I. threw 
out of employment, many of the brave spirits, who had 
served under the preceding sovereign and left them the 
choice of only two means of acquiring wealth or distinction 
and these were either to draw a mercenary sword in the 
quarrels of strangers or to serve their king and country by 
transplanting their energy and enterprise to anew world." 

A question suggested here is what would have become of 
this (increasingly) redundant population, if America's 
awaiting vastness had not been unfolded before them and 
the secret of tobacco and grain wealth disclosed, in the 
fecundity of plain and prairie, with the immediate posses- 
sion and enjoyment of her great forest reserves? 

With Gosnold as prime mover, a remedy was at hand 
through the letters patent issued April, 1606, giving permis- 
sion CO willing pioneers, to search for and make the settle- 
ment upon which Captain John Smith was to become the 
chief actor. 

nowe. 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER III. 

John Smith, Soldier of Fortune, and Recorder of 

History. 

"Another * * * * planted it with valiant hands 

Held the world at large as his estate and 

First of his line * * * * stood * * * *-^ 

planted spear 
The New World saw the English Pioneer!"' 

Taking up the lines of Virginia history from the pens of 
Virginia recorders, we find that the writings of Smith, 
Beverlev and Stith form the basis of that which comes 
through the works of various distinguished historians down 
to us. In them is preserved the narrative of daily happen- 
ings to the knowledge of which the two first lay claim, not 
only as natives of the province, but often eye-witnesses of 
the scenes thev depict. 

A tendency to discredit certain of this testimonv, seems 
to threaten more general disbelief in the matter so preserved 
and warrants a reassertion of those claims with the proofs 
within reach lest, with other causes leading to their disap- 
pearance, we altogether lose them. 

The army of Virginia writers and other writers of Vir- 
ginia historv, who have followed in the wake of these early 
oneSr have made noble efforts for the preservation of the 
old records, earnestly impressing upon the attention of 
posterity, their importance and rareness. 

The chronicles, reaching us as they do through the me- 
dium of many authors, and stamped with the impress of 

' James Barron Hope. "Three Names." 



BY-IVAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY' 37 

their various mental attitudes, have become differently 
pictured, and colored in the transmission, but the light and 
shade of opinion cannot alter underlying principles nor 
disprove recorded facts. 

All authorities agree in the necessity for the preservation 
of the truth, and towards this end, a studious research of 
records, a need which increases as, with the lapse of years, 
history becomes more and more a work of compilation, with 
accompanying commentaries, which, it may be uninten- 
tionallv, but, surely, insidiously, tends to alter original 
documents. 

The name of John Smith, adventurer, conqueror, discov- 
erer, and at last president of .the Virginia colonial settle- 
ment, needs no introduction to the American people. When 
Smith found his usefulness as an assistant in the work of 
colonization was over, he bent the energies of an active 
mind towards collecting and publishing every thing that 
had been written concerning the enterprises with which he 
had been connected. Had he left this undone, doubtless 
there would have survived records, both private and public, 
to reveal in time, the story of Virginia's path-finders; but 
it has happened that his writings principally have served 
for general uses of circulating information. 

The boldest refuter,^ of Smith's claims to authorship, 
states that Smith's "True Relation" (serveral times 
reprinted in this country) was the first account of the Vir- 
ginia colony given to the world, and probably, sent as a 
letter, was published with the running title of "News from 
Virginia." It contains "such occurences and accidents of 
note as have happenci in Virginia synce the first plantinge 
of that colony e which is now resident in the South parte till 

2 Alex. BrowTi, Genesis of the United States, Vol. I. pp. 181-3. 



38. i?r-TT\41'.S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Master Nelson's cominge away from there"; and was 
"printed August 13th, 1608 by John Tapp, printer and 
William Welby, bookseller, at the signe of the Greyhound in 
Paul's Churchyard. " 

Brown's investigations, while consulting English author- 
ities for fragments relating to the "Genesis of the United 
States," enabled him to make certain discoveries, which 
led to his questioning Smith's claims. He confesses that 
this Relation leaves a more favorable impression than his 
later works: "It is true, in this work, he (Smith) does not 
conceal his good opinion of himself, but his vanity and his 
injustice to others increased with his age. Yet it may be 
said that no one could now attempt to venture a decision 
regarding the troubles in Virginia unless they had all the 
evidence before them. " 

We learn through Smith's most zealous biographer, 
Belknap, that when the king in 1624 instituted a commis- 
sion for the reformation of Virginia, iSmith, by the desire of 
the commissioners, gave in a relation of his former pro- 
ceedings in the colony, and his opinion and advice respecting 
the proper methods of remedying the defects in govern- 
ment, and carrying on the plantation, with a prospect of 
success. These; with many other papers. Smith collected 
and published in 1627 in a thin folio, under the title of the 
"General Histor}^ of Virginia, New England and the vSomer 
Isles. " 

Unfortunately Belknap ti*usted the accotint in Beverley 
of this transaction too unquestioningly, and in a foot-note 
of his biography he adds "Agreeably to Smith's advice to 
these commissioners, King Charles J. at his accession dis- 
solved the company in 1626 and reduced the colony under 
the immediate direction of the crown." Later disclosures 
correct this mistake. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 39 

The narrative part of Smith's Genl. His. 1627. is made up 
of the journals and letters of those who were concerned with 
him in the plantation "intermixed with his own observa- 
tions:" and most of these his friend, Purchas, had pub- 
lished two years before in his "Pilgrims." One historian^ 
states that Smith had the assistance from the letters of 
about thirty different writers in this history, which together 
with his "True Travels, Adventures, and Observations" 
was republished by the Rev. Dr. John H. Rice in 181 9 at 
Richmond, Virginia, a copy both exact and complete, except- 
ing some maps and engravings. This reprint is now rare. 

Among the contributors to this history of Smith (to whom 
Campbell refers) were : 

1 Thomas Stiidley, " first provant maister" (Percy, in his' 
list of those who perished in the summer of 1607 from 
disease and starvation , records the name of Thomas Stoodie, 
Cape-merchant, August 28th.) 

2 Walter Russell, " doctor of Phisicke," who accompanied 
Smith on his voyages of exploration along the shores 
of the Virginia rivers. Died — 1609. 

3 Anas Todkilh servant to Capt. John Martin. 

4 Nathaniel Powell, kiWed at "Powell Brooke" in the 
massacre of 1622. 

5 J^ff^'^ Abot, in 161 1, convicted of treasonable plots 
and executed. 

6 Richard Wyffln, who volunteered to inform Smith of 
the drowning of Scrivener and party. 

7 William Phettyplace, came to Virginia in 1607. 

8 Thomas Abbay, sent to Virginia, September, 1608. 

9 Thomas Hope, a tailor, came over in 1608. 

10 Richard Pots, Clerk of the Council in Virginia 1608-9. 
Returned to England. 

And others, whom Smith cites. 

3 Campbell. 



40 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Referring to the fact that Smith never returned to Vir- 
ginia, Grahame thinks it was well, in the interests of history 
that he did not, for a longer residence in the colom^ might 
have deprived the world of that stock of valuable informa- 
tion which the publication of his travels has been the means 
of perpetuating, and he believes that Smith's renown will 
break forth again, and once more be commensurate with his 
deserts ; that it will grow, with the growth of men and letters 
in America, and that whole nations of his admirers have 
yet to be born. 

Brown admits that for two hundred and twenty-five 
years the "General History of Virginia" was almost the 
only source of information regarding our beginning and 
in Smith's work is found the only publication of the 
period giving a detailed account of events, while Smith 
was in Virginia. To avoid doing this author any injustice, 
he has carefiiUy weighed every scrap of evidence within his 
reach, but the result of his examinations, for confirmation 
or rejection of this aiUhovity, is a verdict adverse to Smith's 
pretensions as author or hero, the key-note of his unfavor- 
able judgment being the great wrong, he considers done — to 
the real founders of the colony. 

Stith , exceedingly careful not to reflect disparagingly on 
any author, without grave cause, in alluding to the "Just 
Suspicion in the History of Argall's Government" explains 
"not that I question Smith's integrity for I take him to 
have been a very honest Man and a strenuous Lover of 
Truth. He depended upon Thomas Smith, Argall and their 
friends for an account of things. The account of Argall 
especially was taken from himself and a Relation of Rolfe." 

History tells that John Smith became so famous his 
adventures were dramatized, to his annoyance. Smith 
claimed that these were only misrepresentations , at a time 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 41 

when the Virginia enterprise had gotten into disfavor in 
England, from the disappointments of the adventurers and 
the great sufferings and losses incurred in the colony. 

In his own behalf Smith published "The Travels and 
Adventures of Captaine John Smith" which is a repetition 
of former relations with additional descriptions. Starting 
upon the account of his travels made with the expectation 
of bettering his own condition, while endeavoring to ad- 
vance the interests of the Company, Smith makes this 
appeal — "Who is he that hath judgment, courage and any 
industry or quality with understanding, will leave his coun- 
try, his hopes at home,- his certain estate, his friends, pleas- 
ures, liberty and^ the preferment that England doth afford 
to all degrees, were it not to advance his fortunes by enjoy- 
ing his deserts?" He thus refers to the assistance he has 
received in writing his travels — "what my authors cannot tell 
me, 1 think it no greaterrorin helping them to tell itm^-self ;"4 
and in a brief description, sums up his entire experience 
while in the Virginia colony. First he planted Virginia 
and was set ashore with a hundred men in the wildwoods; 
was taken prisoner by the savages and by the king of 
Pamunkey ; tied to a tree to be shot to death ; led up and 
down the country to be shewn for a wonder; fatted as he 
thought for a sacrifice to their idol, before whom they 
conjured three days with strange dances and invocations; 
then brought before the Emperor Powhatan, who com- 
manded him to be slain; how his daughter, Pocahontas 
saved his life, returned him to Jamestown, relieved him and 
his famished company, which .was but eight and twenty to 
possess the large dominions: how he discovered all the 
several nations, on the rivers falling into the bay of Che^a- 

< Campbell, p. 38. 



42 BY-WAY'S OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

peake ; was stung almost to death by the poisonous tail of a 
fish called a stingray ; was blown up with gun-powder and 
returned to England to be cured.'' 

In t6i2 appeared a work with the title "A Map of Vir- 
ginia, with a description of the Cotmtrev, The Commodyties, 
People Government and Religion. Written by Captaine 
John Smith, sometime Governotir of the Countrey. " The 
map was "graven by William Hole:" it has appeared in 
various editions, one, "probably the second impression" is 
said to have been engraved especially for Purchas' Pilgrims. 

A copy is given with a series of maps, accompanying the 
report of the Virginia commissioners appointed to ascertain 
the boundary line between Maryland and Virginia, pub- 
lished by R. F. Walker, Supt. Public Printing, Richmond 
1873. (The commissioners appointed on the part of Vir- 
ginia for the work were Henry A. Wise, D. C. Dejarnette 
and William Watts.) 

Smith relates that when Capt. Newport left Virginia on a 
return voyage to England in 1608, he sent a " Mappe of the 
Bay and Rivers with an annexed Relation of the Countries 
and Nations that inhabit there, material for which had been 
gathered during two exploratory voyages, at which time he 
took notes and mapped out the country for the future 
gtiidance of the colonists and the satisfaction of his countrv- 
men in England. " 

Bancroft in describing Smith's voyages for the purpose of 
discovering the tributary' waters of the Chesapeake, 
declares that the map Smith prepared and5t';z/ to the Company 
in London delineates correctly the great outlines of Nature, 
being astonishingly accurate. This biographer thinks the 
expedition was worthy the romantic age of America. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY ' 43 

Slightly differing in his testimony, Robertson says Smith 
brought with him an account of that large portion of Virginia 
and Maryland, so full and exact that after the progress of 
information and research for a century and a half, his map 
exhibits no inaccurate view of the countries, and it is the 
original upon which all subsequent descriptions have been 
formed. 

A reproach falling upon the company employing him, 
and the colonists immediately benefited is in Smith's com- 
plaint " I have spent five years and more than ;^5oo. in the 
service of Virginia and New England and in neither of them 
have I one foot of land nor the very house I built, nor the 
ground I digged with my own hands ; but I see those coun- 
tries shared before me by those who know them only by my 
descriptions." 

The "True Travels" printed in 1629 from which Dr. 
Jeremy Belknap drew the material for his biography are 
preserved entire in Churchill's Collections. Relying upon 
what he finds there, this author loyally supports the discov- 
erer "fearless, tireless and ingenious," whose map and 
writings have proven an encyclopaedia of reference. 

"At Smith's arrival in London, he was invited by the 
South Virginia Company to return to their service, but he 
made use of his engagement with the Plymouth adven- 
turers, who were now negotiating to send an expedition to 
New England, as an excuse for declining the invitation." 
From this circumstance, Belknap thinks, the Company 
had been convinced of Smith's former fidelity, notwith- 
standing the letters and reports formerly received to his 
disadvantage. 

The ability displayed by Smith in calling attention to 
the results of his investigations and achievements through 



44 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

records which have been of more than temporar}' use, 
inchnes the reader to echo his biographer's words "that it 
would have given him singular pleasure, if he could have 
learned from any creditable testimony that Smith ever 
received any recompense for his numerous services and 
sufferings." 

The Portrait of Capt. John Smith represents him clad in 
armor, and under it are these verses, which, with his por- 
trait, was printed on his map of New England, 1616.^ 

Such are the lines that show thy face; but those 

That show th}^ grace and glory brighter bee 

Thy faire discoveries and fowle overthrowes 

Of salvages much civiUzed by thee, 

Best show thy spirit and to it glory win, 

So, thot: art brasse without, but golde within. 

From "vStowes' Survey of London printed 1633" two 
years after the death of Smith, it is learned, there was a 
tablet erected to his memorv in St. Sepulchres', inscribed 
with his motto "Vincere est Vivere" and the following 
verses. 

Here lies one conciuered that hath conc^uered Kings 

Subdu'd large Territories and done things. 

Which to the world impossible would seeme 

But that the truth is held in more esteeme. 

Shall I report his former service done 

In honor of God and Christendome 

How that he did divide from Pagans three 

Their Heads and Lives, Types of his Chivalry 

For which great service in that Climate done 

Brave Sigismumdus (King of Hungarion) 

Did give him, as a coat of arms to weare 

These conquer'd heads got by his sword and speare. 

Or shall I tell of his adventtires since 

" Oenpsis of .\meriea, Vol. II. p. 780. 




Capt. John Smith. 



46 if?r-ir.4r5 of virgixia history 

Done in Virginia that large Continence 
How that he subdued Kings into his yoke 
And made those heathens flie as wind doth smoke 
And made their land being of so large a station 
A habitation for our Christian nation. 
Where God is glorified, their wants supplied 
Which else for necessaries might have di'd, 
But what avails his conquests, now he lyes 
Inter'd in earth, a pray for Worms and Flies 
O, may his soule in sweet Elizivim sleepe 
Until the Keeper that all soules doth keepe 
Retume to Judgment and that after thence 
With angels he may have recompense.' 

"This tablet was destroyed by the great tire in 1666 and 
all now remaining to the memory of Capt. Smith is a large 
flat stone, in front of the communion table engraved with 
his coat-of-arms. The three Tm-ks' heads are still distin- 
guishable, but in a few more years they will be entirely 
effaced by the many feet which every Sunday unconsciously 
trample upon this great man's tomb. "^ 

Smith's connection with the Virginia Colony was only 
for a period of two or three years, but his interest in it 
continued after he left and he seems to have kept posted 
about matters there; though he was fated never to return 
after embarking for England in September, 1610. 

' Virginia Historical Register, 1849. 

8 Campbell, p. S4, citing Godwin's CHURCHES of London, Vol. I. p. 9. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 47 



CHAPTER IV. 

Robert Beverley, the First Native Historian. Rev. 
Hugh Jones. 

"Whoever investigates the histories of individuals or com- 
munities must expect to be perplexed by numberless inconsist- 
encies. " 

As a Virginia historian Beverley ranks next in order of time 
to Smith. The attention he had given to Hterature, and the 
responsible offices he held in the colony, well fitted him to 
write understandingly of what transpired there. 

Robert Beverley, of Beverley Park, was the son of Maj. 
Robert Beverley, formerly of Yorkshire, England, and the 
brother of Col. Peter Beverley, county-lieutenant of Glou- 
cester. Beverley, the historian, married Ursula,^ daughter 
of Col. William B3''rd, the elder. Bishop Meade records 
that he found at Jamestown the tombstone of Ursula, 
daughter of Byrd and wife of Beverley. 

That Beverley was one of the gentlemen who accom- 
panied Gov. Spotswood on his mountain excursion, he tells 
in the preface to the second edition of his history "1 was 
with the present governor (Spotswood) at the head spring 
of both those rivers (York and Rappahannock) and their 
fountains are in the highest ridge of mountains." The 
several camps at which the party rested were named after 
the gentlemen of the expedition, the first one being called 
"Camp Beverley" where "they made great fires, supped 
and drank good punch. " 

1 Ursula, the first wife of Beverley, died in her seventeenth year, 1698; he mar- 
ried secondly, Mary Porrott, and moved early in the 18th century to Middlesex 
county. 



48 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

A Burgess in 1699, Beverley was appointed a member of 
the committee to revise the laws of "this, his majesty's 
ancient and great colony and dominion of Virginia" 
together with Edward Hill, Matthew Page, and Benjamin 
Harrison, members of Council; and Miles Carey, John 
Taylor, Anthony Armistead, Henry Duke and William 
Buckner, burgesses. 

His father, the persecuted clerk, died in 1687, after 
having endured great persecutions, sufferings and indig- 
nities at the hands of the governors, Culpeper, Effingham, 
and the deputy-governor, Nicholson. Smarting under the 
remembrance of these wrongs, Campbell thinks the first 
edition of his history exhibits Beverley's extreme acrimony 
against those officers, but in the second edition, when time 
had mitigated his animosities, many of his accusations 
against them are omitted. 

In his first introduction, Beverley takes pains to explain 
the cause inducing him to write a history of the Virginia 
settlement, which he had not contemplated until upon an 
occasion of being called to England upon his own affairs, 
and his bookseller's inviting him to overlook a work pre- 
paring for printing called "A general account of all his 
Majesty's Plantations in America" by Oldmixon, the exami- 
nation of the part relating to Virginia shewed him it was 
very faulty. This portion, some six sheets of paper, was 
" an abridgement of some accounts written sixty or seventy 
years ago, too imperfect to be amended" so Beverley 
undertook to write an account in justice to so fine a coun- 
try, because it was so misrepresented. ^ 

■ One hundred and forty years later, in preparing his history, Howison warns his 
readers that Beverley is not always a safe guide and that when he and Oldmixon 
agree, they are generally both wrong and not to he trusted unless confirmed by 
some other authority. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 49 

Robert Beverley, a clerk of the Assembly, and father of 
the historian, was subjected to tyrannical persecution and 
imprisonment, during the second administration of Cul- 
peper, because he refused to give up the papers in his 
charge without authority from his masters, the House of 
Burgesses, when an inspection of the journals was deinanded 
by the Council in 1682. 

Beverley was detained in prison two years before any 
prosecution was commenced against him, and this interval 
was consumed in search for charges ; not finding which he 
was finally pardoned, after Howard, Culpeper's successor, 
had taken the oath of office. His sufferings during impris- 
onment and persecutions hastened his death . 

The services of Robert Beverley, clerk, were so valued 
that when the Assembly met, at the call of Howard, they 
refused to proceed with business for the want of a clerk, as 
their former one was in prison ; and they also refused to 
elect another in his place. In this situation matters were 
compromised. James II. deprived the Burgesses of the 
right of electing their own clerk, ordering the governor to 
elect him, and requiring the assembly to make the clerk the 
usual allowance for his services. 

Through the similarity of name Grahame confuses the 
historian with his father, the clerk of the Assembly, and 
describes him as a native of the province, who had taken an 
active part in public affairs prior to the English Revolution 
of t688; but justly considers him an agreeable annalist, 
who has appended to his narrative of events an ample 
account of the institutions of the province and of the man- 
ners of the colonial and aboriginal inhabitants. 

Only the initial letters of Beverle^'-'s name appears on 
the title page of his book, consequently many mistakes have 



50 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

been made in regard to the authorship variously supposed 
to be Bullock, Bird, etc. 

"The History of the Present State of Virginia, by R. B., 
gent.'' published in one volume of Four Parts, " was printed 
first for " R. Parker at the Unicorn, under the Piazzas of the 
Royal Exchange MDCCV in London, England." 

The second edition revised and enlarged bv Beverley was 
printed for F. Fayram and J. Clarke at the Royal Exchange 
and T. Bickerton in Pater-Noster Row, London, in 1722. 
The frontispiece is the Colonial coat-of-arms.+ 

Beverley divides his history into 4 parts. 

I . The history of the settlement of Virginia and the gov- 
ernment there to the year 1706. 

II. The natural productions and conveniences of the 
country suited to trade and improvement. 

III. The native Indians, their religion, laws and customs 
in war and peace. 

ir. The present state of the country, as to the polity of 
the government and the improvements of the land to the 
loth of June, 1720. By a Native and Inhabitant of the 
PLACE. 

The prints used for illustration were copied from those of 
one he calls "John Withe, an ingenious painter, who came 
over with Raleigh's colonists." Campbell, following Bev- 
erley says: " during the year the colony passed at Roanoke, 
Wythe made drawings from nature illustrative of the appear- 

3 The mode of adding "gent." after the siimame signified that the person to whose 
name it was applied was of independent means, who had the breeding of a gentle- 
man, as distinct from the laboring class. 

< The motto given is the flrst used "En dat Virginia Quintum" and the engraver 
S. Gribelin, Sculptor. 




Colonial Coat-of-Arms. 



Under the regal government the coat-of-arms of Virginia was one of the most 
imposing in the colonies. Two knights clad in armor supported a shield on which 
were quartered the emblems of England, Scotland, Ireland and France and beneath 
the shield was the honorable motto "En dat Virginia Quintum," originally tak(>n 
upon the settlement of Virginia. Later "quartam" was substituted for "quintum" — 
the former being used from the time, 1707, of the union of Scotland with England. 
Surmounting the quartered shield was the half statue of Pocahontas. — Grigsby. 



52 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

ance and habits of the natives. This artist's pencil suppHed 
materials for the illustrations of the works of De Bry and 
Beverley." 

Allusion has been made to Howison's discredit of Bev- 
erley's history; a reason given is that the author "is much 
affected with the love of royalty and that his sketch of 
Virginia history is meagre and prejudiced in the first part 
of his book ; but the last part, devoted to her physical con- 
dition, agriculture, natural products, laws, manners and 
aborigines, is spirited and valuable." It offends Howison 
that Beverley made a hero of Argall, "to whom the colony 
owes all of its prosperitv at the time. " 

At the time of the republication of his history in 1855, 
the Richmond Examiner regards Beverlev as "the verv 
best authority of all early Virginia writers upon the partic- 
ular subjects delineated in his quaint and agreeable pages, 
and his work affords the most vivid, comprehensive, instruc- 
tive and entertaining picture of Virginia at the date of his 
writing that is to be found. 

This edition was reprinted, from the author's second 
revised London edition of 1722, by J. W. Randolph of Rich- 
mond in 1855, with an introduction bv Charles Campbell, 
author of the"ColonialHistory of Virginia." The Examiner 
considers that "Mr Randolph deserves the thanks of the 
people of Virginia for rescuing her early literature from the 
oblivion into which it is rapidly falling. The republication 
of this rare volume— as precious in Virginia history as any 
genuine old painting of Raphael or Rembrandt in Art — will 
prove most gratifying to the Virginia historian andstu dent." 

Beverley has the merit of being the first native-born 
Virginian who, having entered the field of historical writing, 
published the result of his labour, thus giving his people the 



i?r-ir.4r5 of Virginia history 53 

benefit of his knowledge of conditions and occurrences 
covering an interval of more than a century. It appears 
singular that Stith ignored this historian, till we reflect that 
the former author never completed the history he contem- 
plated, and that the part published contained material 
from fountain sources, supplied by public archives, to which 
doubtless Beverley could not gain access. 

Of the period embraced in his own life, Beverlev surely 
authentic then, became the eye-witness to events and estab- 
lishments, of which he gave the account. 

According to Beverley no cities grew up for a long period. 
There was the small town of Williamsburg which succeeded 
Jamestown as the capital, — the colonists dispersing them- 
selves along the banks of the rivers, enjoyed the sweets of 
rural life. This state of life was highly favorable to those 
two great sources of national happinCvSs, good morals and 
the facilitv of gaining, by industrv, a moderate competence 
and a respectable stake in society. 

It was the remarkable and advantageous peculiarity of 
their local situation, that prevented a people so early devoted 
to commerce as the Virginians from congregating in large 
towns and forming crowded marts of trade. 

The whole of the country being pervaded by numerous 
streams, they could load the merchant ships at the doors 
of their ware-houses. 

Impressed with the advantages which the country so 
liberally held forth to faithful discharge of duty and moral- 
ity, none needed to despair of a competence; while it is 
true none found it practicable to amass enormous wealth. 

That there was no case of hopeless poverty, Beverley 
instances a time when a five pound note was left by a charita- 
ble testator to the poorof the parish he lived in and it lay nine 



54 BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY ■ 

years before the executors could find one poor enough to be 
entitled to any part of this legac}*, and at last it was all 
given to one old woman. " So that this may be termed in 
truth the best poor man's country in the world." 

This historian warmly extols the hospitality of his 
countrymen, a characteristic, Grahame thinks ," engen- 
dered by the peculiar circumstances of their condition, 
remote from public haunts, unoccupied by a crowd of busy 
purposes and sequestered from the intelligence of passing 
events" and this last author here quotes an anecdote, from 
Hall's "Travels in the United States," as told by Jefferson, 
that, in his father's time, it was no uncommon thing for 
gentlemen to post their sei-vants on the main road, for the 
purpose of amicably waylaying and bringing to their 
houses, any travellers who might chance to pass. 

Earlier hospitality seems to have been more disinterested, 
for Beverley related that "poor planters who have but one 
bed will often sit up or lie upon a couch all night to make 
room for a weary traveller ; and if there be one unwilling to 
comply with this custom he has a mark of Infamy set upon 
him and is abhorred by all." 

Many conditions and habits described by Beverley 
remained unchanged long after his history was laid aside: 
and fifty years later, the disregard of Virginia's unwritten 
law regulating the obligation of hospitality, not altered by 
time or circumstance, brought upon the offender the censure 
of the community. The report of such an instance comes 
through a county sheriff. When locating bounty land Wash- 
ington made long journeys on horseback, through the coun- 
try, accompanied only by his body-servant. As he was on 
one of these lonely rides, one evening towards nightfall, 
feeling wearied by the day's exertions, he began to look 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 55 

around for a place of rest. Nearing the manor house of a 
planter, whom he saw seated on his portico, he rode up to 
enquire about a near place of entertainment for himself and 
beast. He was told that b}^ going a mile further onward he 
would find a Doggery where the proprietor would be pre- 
pared to accommodate him. 

At this period many of the well-to-do people owned 
what wxre called Ordinaries, a kind of country inn, patron- 
ized b}^ way-farers. Thinking to discover such a place 
Washington rode on ahead of his servant. 

The planter, feeling some curiosity regarding his ques- 
tioner, called to the "fellow" then passing, to know what 
gentleman had just accosted him: and was informed that it 
was Mister George Washington. At hearing this name 
the now would-be host arose and, with much excitement, 
hallooed to Washington to come back, volunteering the 
previously withheld invitation, but such tardy hospitality 
was courteously declined with the reasonable excuse that 
the distance to the Doggery was then short. :■*!( 

The weary horseman pursued his way until he spied 
another homestead, where he observed a youTig girl in the 
yard ; halting here, he repeated his former query. Promptly 
reply mg, the girl told him that her father was an old man 
and an invalid, but he would be pleased to accommodate a 
stranger, who could find no better place. 

His reception here so pleased him, Washington remained 
in the unpretentious home longer than his wont, and when 
he left, presented the young lady with a gold piece for her 
neck-chain, which she afterwards wore in remembrance of 
the distinguished visitor. 

Beverley reports that, in the year 1720 there was a 
subdivision of the countr^^ into twenty-nine counties. 



5G fir-ll'.4y'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

The Method of bounding the counties was with a view to 
the convenience of having each county Hmited to a single 
river, so that each farmer, in one countv, might seek his 
shipping on one river. 

There was a division also into necks of land: ist. North- 
ern Neck between Potowmeck and Rappahannock: this 
included i. Lancaster; 2. Northumberland; 3. Westmore- 
land; 4. Stafford; 5. Richmond; 6. King George. 

2d. A Neck between Rappahannock and York Rivers: 
this included, i. Gloucester; 2. Middlesex; 3. King and 
Queen: 4. King William; 5. Essex; 6. Spotsylvania. 

3d. A Neck between York and James Rivers: this 
included, i. Elizabeth City; 2. Warwick; 3. York; 4. 
James City; 5. New Kent; 6. Charles City; 7. Hanover, 
8. Part of Henrico. 

4th. Lands on the South side of James River: this 
included, i. Princess Anne; 2. Norfolk; 3. Nansainond; 
4. Isle of Wight; 5. Surry; 6. Prince George; 7. Bruns- 
wick, 8. The other part of Henrico. 

5th. Lands on the Eastern shore: this included, I. North- 
ampton; 2. Accomack. 

There was a third division into districts, according to 
rivers, appointed for naval oflficers and collectors of duties, 
ist. Upper part of James River from Hog Island upwards. 
2d. Lower part of James ^River, round Point Comfort to 
Back River. 3d. York, Poquosin, Mobjack Bay and 
Picanketanck. 4th. Rappahannock. 5th. Potowmeck. 

6th. Pocomoke and the other parts on the Eastern shore 
made two districts, now united in one. 



5V'-II'.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 57 

A CONTRIBUTION "FICTIONAL RATHER THAN HISTORICAL." 

"Following closely upon the second edition of Beverley 
came 'The Present State of Virginia' by Hugh Jones, A. M., 
chaplain to the Honorable Assembly and late minister 
to Jamestown, in Virginia — a small work of about 150 pages, 
now very scarce." 

"His description of the characteristics of Virginians is a 
curiosity in its way, and written in a quaint style :" ^ "The 
habits, life, customs, computations, etc., of the Virginians, 
are much the same as about London, which they esteem 
their home; and for the most part, have contemptible 
notions of England, and wrong sentiments of Bristol and 
the other outports, which they entertain from seeing and 
hearing the common dealers, sailors and servants, that 
come from these towns, and the country places in England 
and Scotland, whose language and manners are strange 
to them. 

"For the planters, and even the native negroes, generally 
talk, good English, without idiom or tone, and can dis- 
course handsomely on most common subjects. Convers- 
ing with persons belonging to trade and navigation from 
London, for the most part, they are much civilized; and 
wear the best of cloaths, according to their stations; nay, 
sometimes too good for their circumstances, being for the 
generality, comely, handsome persons, of good features 
and fine complexions — if they take care,— of good manners 
and address. 

"The climate makes them bright, and of excellent sense 
and sharp in trade: an idiot or deformed native being 
almost a miracle. Thus they have good natural notions, 



5 Howe's "Antiquities" p. 330. 



58 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

and will soon learn arts and sciences ; but are generally 
diverted, by business or inclination, from profound study 
and prying into the depth of things ; being ripe for manage- 
ment of their affairs before they have laid so good a founda- 
tion for learning, and had such instructions and acquired 
such accomplishments, as might be instilled into such 
naturally good capacities. 

"Nevertheless, through their quick apprehension, they 
have a sufficiency of knowledge and fluency of tongue, 
though their learning, for the most part, be but superficial. 
They are more inclinable to read men by business and con- 
versation than to dive into books and are for the most part, 
only desirous of learning what is absolutely necessary in 
the shortest and best method. As for education, several 
are sent to England for it, though the Virginians, being 
naturally of good parts, as I have already hinted, neither 
require nor admire as much learning as we do in Britain; 
yet more would be sent over, were they not afraid of the 
smallpox, which most commonly proves fatal to them. 

"But indeed when they come to England, thev are gener- 
ally put to^earn to persons that know little of their temper, 
who keep them drudging on what is of least vise to them 
in pedantick methods too tedious for their volatile genius. 

"Virginia may be justty esteemed the happy retreat of 
true Britons and true Churchmen for the most part ; neither 
soaring too high, nor dropping too low, conseqtiently 
should merit the greater esteem and encouragement." 



i^V-ir-4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 59 



CHAPTER V. 

William Stith, Parson and Writer. His Printer, 

Parks. 

"It IS in the determination to follow truth that the genuine love 
of truth is shewn." 

However much historians disagree about other authori- 
ties, all are unanimous in considering the "History of 
Virginia" by the Rev. William Stith, a reliable source of 
information. 

This volume contains an accurate recapitulation of 
recorded occurrences down to the year 1624. We find the 
author of it described in biography^ as a candid and accom- 
plished writer, very minute in relating the debates of the 
Court of Proprietors of the Virginia Company and their 
disputes with the king, but generally impressive and inter- 
esting. 'A manly and generous spirit pervades every page 
of his work, published at Williamsburg in 1747 by WilHam 
Parks." 

William Stith was born in 1689; studied theology and 
was ordained in England to the established church. Was 
made Chaplain to the House of Burgesses; later was Rector 
at Henrico, and President of William and Mary College. 
He died at Williamsburg September 27, 1755. 

"When the county of Henrico was formed, in the year 
1634, the Court House was located near the river in the 
center of the settlement and a portion consisting of two 
hundred acres of this land, including the Courthouse was 

1 Grahame. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISIORY Gl 

laid off for a glebe, to form the parish of Henrico. Not 
far from the Courthouse, and near to the river, a comfort- 
able parsonage was built of brick for the residence of the 
parson. 

"The last occupant of this parsonage of Varina was the 
Rev. William Stith, who wrote his history here about the 
year 1746. "= 

Stith preached alternateh" at Four-Mile-Creek Church 
(so called because it was that distant from Henrico) and at 
St. John's Church on Richmond Hill, — built in 1740, (and 
later made notable from the fact that Henry's liberty 
speech was dehvered there) still an object of historic interest 
in a good state of preservation. 

Only one instalment of an extended history, planned by 
Stith, was pubhshed, the materials for which were pro- 
cured from colonial archives, Randolph's Papers, the 
Records of the London Company and the Byrd Librai-\\ 
Being provided with which this conscientious writer entered 
in the quiet of his parsonage upon the task he set himself 
of handing down to posterity the account of his countrv's 
foundation. We may believe it was with enthusiasm that 
he started — upon what seems to have been a labor of love. — 
constantly refreshed by rich stores of knowledge and 
doubtless, as the ink dried upon his pages, there was ever 
an audience of admiring friends, encouraging" him to pro- 
ceed. 

But before he had finished one small volume other voices 
reached his ears, which arrested his pen; and he needed to 
add a leaf explaining his reason for sending forth his work 
uncompleted. "Once he intended to have added several 
other curious papei's but perceiving, to his mortification. 



' Virginia Historical Register, 1848. 



62 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

that some of his countrymen (and these persons of Fortune 
and Distinction) seemed to be much alarmed and to grudge 
that a complete History of their own Country run to more 
than one volume and cost them half a Pistole he was obliged 
therefore to refrain his Hand and only insert a few and 
necessar}' Instruments for fear of enhancing the price to 
the immense charge and irreparable Damage of such gener- 
ous and public-spirited gentlemen." 

For so small a cause this historian's work was shortened, 
valuable documents were laid away and history, with such 
an opportunity for enlightenment, comes to us in abbreviated 
form. 

To gain the truth Stith could have told, the earnest 
historian must now bring to his aid, an erasive pen and 
tireless eye, to assist a clear brain, in correcting repeated 
mistakes and in order to make history accessible to the 
student who has not leisure to delve deeply for the knowl- 
edge of matters pertaining to his country's progress. 

Having access to authentic and important documents, 
there appears no reason to doubt the accuracy of anything 
Stith repeats; had there been, we feel quite assured, that 
Howison, ever intolerant of error, would have discovered 
and drawn to such, the attention of his readers. As it is 
this caustic writer chose Stith as one of his accompanying 
references to whom he reluctantly bids adieu after the date 
1624 with the parting criticism that "he is often harsh and 
inelegant in style and has crowded his pages with a mass 
of unimportant matter, but he is rigidly accurate and his 
love of freedom, entitles him to our sincere respect. " 

Published in one volume, Stith divides his work into 
five books, with Appendix. His opening sentence gives the 
date of his writing "It is now an hundred and forty years 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 63 

since the Discovery and Settlement of the Colony. " From 
this introduction he proceeds to state his reason for entering 
upon such a labor. " I need not say how empty and unsatis- 
factory every thing yet published upon the Subject is 
excepting the excellent but confused Materials left us by 
Capt. Smith's History, which is large and good and of 
unquestionable Authority for what is related whilst he 
staid in the Country. 

" Had anything of consequence been done in our History 
I could most willingly have saved myself the Trouble of 
conning over old musty Records. " 

A keen interest in his Country's history caused him to 
gather together the chronicles while he was "enjoying 
perfect Leisure and Retirement" in the evening of his life. 
He was very fortunate in procuring material "I have the 
Sight and Perusal of many excellent Materials in my hands." 
To begin with he finds among his relative, Sir John Ran- 
dolph's (Stith's mother was a Miss Randolph and also his 
wife) effects, a collection, that he was convinced Randolph 
had made for historical purposes. 

Considering it the duty of an historian to "paint Men and 
Things in their true and lively colours" this "accurate, 
judicious and faithful compiler," makes a list of the records 
he obtained, with their claim to consideration, and just 
here he informs the reader that " Byrd's library is the best 
and most copious Collection of Books in our Part of 
America." 

An example of his painstaking explanation occurs in 
"The Records of the Antiquities of our Country, Proceed- 
ings from Day to Day" which he states are in two large 
Folio Volumes on a kind of Elephant Paper. Each page 
subscribed by Edw. Collingwood, the Company's Secretary, 



(U jyV-ir.41'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

thus; Com. Collingwood (I take it,) compared, CoUing- 
wood. m\ testification at the end of each Volume. The 
first under the Hands of Edward Waterhouse and Edward 
Collingwood, Secretaries of the two Companies for Virginia 
and Somers Islands, that they had compared them with 
original Court Book, perfect except the omission of one 
Court and part of the other. The 2d Vol. signed by Edw. 
Collingwood and Thomas Collet of the Middle Temple, 
testifying the same except in a few immaterial points. 
These volumes only contain the Company's Proceedings 
for a little above five years from April 28, 161 9, to June 7, 
1624, during the whole time of Sandys and the earl of 
Southampton's administration: Giving at length the chief 
Speeches, Reasons and Debates that happened in their 
Courts — a Period of vast Contest and Dispute — referring 
back to accounts of the Proceedings of the Company almost 
from its first institution." Stith supposed the original 
of these carefully preserved records had been destroyed 
and only this copy was then extant. 

In the Appendix to the "first part of the History of 
Virginia" Stith states that the Collection of Charters were 
still extant and "as they w'ere never legally revoked, are 
therefore important." The "First Charter, To Sir Thos. 
Gates, Sir Geo. Somers and others, for two several colonies, 
was dated April 6, 1606. " 

The "Second Charter, To the Treasurer and Company 
uniting them into a corporation and body politic, was 
dated March 23, 1609." 

The "Third Charter, to the Treasurer and Company, 
March 12, 161 1-12. " 

The "Fourth Charter for a Council of State, July 24, 
1621." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 65 

Stith had seen four copies of the two first charters: one 
among the records in the Secretary's ofifice mangled and 
defaced; another, in the Council office tolerably legible; 
a third in a fair book of Records belonging to the House of 
Burgesses; the fourth and most correct he found among 
John Randolph's papers, transcribed by his clerk from 
different copies.' One copy of the third charter was in 
Randolph's Collections. The fourth charter he got from 
the book in the clerk's ofifice in the House of Burgesses. 

From their extreme rareness Stith could not get sight of 
Raleigh's "Letters Patent" in Hakluyt's " Collection of 
Voyages. " 

The " History of the Discovery and Settlement of Virginia 
being an Essay towards a General History of this Colony 
by Wm. Stith, A. M., Rector of Henrico Parish and one of 
the Governors of William and Mary College, Williamsburg. 
Printed by Wm. Parks, (MDCCXLVII.)" contains in 
its pages among other important records King James the 
First's, second Charter to the Treasurer and Company for 
Virginia, erecting i,heminto a Corporation and Body politic 
and for the further enlargement and Explanation of the 
Privileges of the said Company and first Colony of Virginia. 
Dated May 23, 1609. 7. James. 29 Articles. 

We have formerly by our letters patent, etc., * * * 
(first charter). 

II. Forasmuch as sundry of our loving subjects already 
engaged intend to prosecute the same to a happy end (de- 
siring) a further enlargement (additional) Councillors and 
other Officers, whose Dwellings are not so remote from 
the city of London but they may be ready at hand to give 
Advice and Assistence, etc. * * * * 



66 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY' 

III. We greatly affecting the eft'ectual Prosecution * * 
for Encouragement of so excellent a Work, give, grant and 
confirm to our trusty subjects whether they go in their 
Persons to be Planters there or adventure their Monies 
and shall have perpetual succession, etc. * * * * 

Every planter and Adventurer to be inserted in the 
Patent by name. 

VI. Limits * * * those Lands, Countries and Terri- 
tories, situate in that part of America called Virginia, from 
the Point Comfort, along the sea north 200 miles to the 
South from said Point 200 miles up into the land from sea 
to sea, west and northwest, also the islands along the coast 
of both seas of the Precinct aforesaid * * * *_ 

XIV. Form of government, * * * *_ 

XVII. Licence to travaile (travel) to Virginia * * * 

XX. Intruders (expelled) * * * * 

XXIV. Martial law * * * * 

XXIX. Guarding against superstition * * * * 

Stith finds the Adventurer's Names vastly confused and 
different in the different manuscript copies of this charter. 
" I chose the two fairest and most correct that I have met 
with to transcribe this from and although they both agree 
in writing the Name, Sir Edward Sands or Sandis, yet they 
are both certainly wrong as might be easily proved, were 
it worth while and would not be too tedious. 

"I was also much puzzled to adjust and settle others 
of the Names and although I was at no small Pains in 
collating the copies and in consulting and referring to other 
■ ancient Letters, Papers and Patents, yet I w^ll not affirm 
that I am not often mistaken. But however erroneous 
and perplexed the Names of the Adventurers may be, yet 
I found the main Body and material Parts of the Charter, 
verv clear, full and correct. " 



BY-IVAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 67 

This com])lete charter (m Hening's Statutes at Large I. 
pp. 80-98 and in Stith's Appendix, No. it. 8-22) with full 
lists of private subscribers (659 persons) and corporations 
(56 city companies of London) is reprinted in Alex. Brown's 
"Genesis of America" Vol. L pp. 208-237, — 1890. 

Brown-^ states that this charter — first published in .Stith's 
History of Virginia, 1747; — was drafted by Sir Edwin 
Sandys, assisted by Lord Bacon. 

The Council in England haying been convinced that 
there were sundry errors in the form of government under 
the first charter, determined to ask for a ne"w one. 
Hakluyt mentions one of the " Solemne meetings at 
which Master Thomas Heriot was present in consultation 
with the managers of the enterprise," while they were 
exerting themselves to procure a change of patent. 

Concerning Parks, Avho printed Stith's history, we find 
that the first newspaper printed in the colony "The Virginia 
Gazette" a sheet 12 in. by 6 in., was issued by Wm. 
Parks at Williamsburg, August 6, 1736, at fifteen shillings 
per annum. 

His announcement read "I am induced to set forth 
weekly newspapers here, in this ancient and best settled 
Colony not doubting to meet with as good encouragement 
as others." His paper was under the influence of the 
government, and when he died in 1750 the paper was dis- 
continued for a time. It was a small sheet of dingy paper 
but well printed. 

In 1740 Parks printed a work called "Family Devotion 
or an Exhortation to morning and evening Prayers in 
Families, with two forms of prayer suited to those seasons 
and also fitted for the use of one person in private. To 

3 Gene.sis of America Vol. 1. pp. 206-207 



68 B]'-WAYS OF W'RGIX/A HISTORY 

which are now added two vShorter Forms to be used by 
children and servants, when they cannot convenientlv be 
present at the Family Prayers. First drawn up for the Use 
of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Lambeth and now 
Revised and Enlarged by the Right Reverend Father in 
God, Edmund, Lord Bishop of London. " 

Printed in Williamsburg by William Parks. 

As a Church Warden of Bruton Parish in ly.jg Parks, 
together with Thos. Dawson, Clerk, John Custis, John 
Blair, Thomas Jones, Peyton Randolph, Thomas Cobbs, 
Henry Tyler, Matthew Pierce, Lewis Burwell, and Benj. 
Waller received in trust from one Mary Whalev. through 
her heir-at-law, Mann Page, a certain parcel of land by 
estimation ten acres — ' ' to them as church wardens for the 
time being and their successors, for the use mentioned in 
her last Will and Testament. " Recorded in York County. 

Besides Stith's History. Parks printed the Laws of 
Virginia:. Campbell notes the earliest surviving evidence 
of printing, done in Virginia, as the edition of the Revised 
LawSj published in 1733, doubtless alluding to Parks' 
work. 

In connection with the data Stith procured from the 
effects of Sir John Randolph, for his history, a reference 
to the standing of this officer in the colony, may be of 
interest. 

Histor\' defines his position, as "Speaker of the House 
of Burgesses, treasurer of the colony, representative of 
William and Mary College and recorder for the borough 
of Norfolk. "^ 

With extraordinary talents, he united extensive learning, 
a love of which early evinced, was improved by the instnic- 

■• Also Randolph was sent on a mission to London in 1732; later he was knighted 
and made attorney-general. 



■ 


1 




^L ^iS^^H 




1 


^H 


1 








1 


1 




l3 




W^ 





Sir John Randolph. 



70 fi r- IT '.4 r5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

tion of a Protestant clergyman, a French refugee; com- 
pleting his education at William and Mary college, he 
studied law at Gray's Inn and the Temple, and returning to 
Virginia, soon distinguished himself at the bar. 

At the meeting of the Assembly in August 1736 composed 
of sixty burgesses, Randolph was elected speaker. The 
next day he was presented to the governor'^ to whom he 
made an address, giving a concise history of the constitu- 
tion of Virginia from the first period of arbitrary govern- 
ment and martial law to the charter granted by the Virginia 
company, establishing an Assembly, consisting of a council 
of state and a house of burgesses, which legislative consti- 
tution was confirmed bv James I., Charles I. and their 
successors. 

In March, 1737, the Honorable Sir John Randolph, Knight, 
died and was interred in the chapel of the college at Williams- 
burg, his body being borne there b}^ six "honest, industri- 
ous, poor housekeepers" of Bruton Parish, who had twenty 
pounds divided between them. "An elegant marble tablet, 
graced with ^a Latin inscription" placed to his memory, 
was destroyed by the fire which consumed the college in 
i86o.<^ 

Stith made his investigations among the papers of which 
Randolph had made a collection. 

= Gov. Wm. Gooch. 
" Campbell. 



fir-Tl'.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 71 



CHAPTER VI. 

A Notable Trio of the Nineteenth Century. — 
BuRK. Hening. Jefferson. 

"Our past is as much a part and parcel of today, as the marks we 
bear in our bodies are portions of ourselves, no matter how we 
came by them, nor when. " 

"The History of Virginia, from its first settlement to 
the present day" was pubHshed in 1804 by John Burk, 
an Irishman by birth, who emigrated to Virginia and 
practiced as attorney-at-law in Petersburg. 

Three volumes only of his history were coinpleted, bring- 
ing it down to the commencement of the American Revo- 
lution; at this stage of his work, a political dispute with a 
Frenchman terminated in a duel, when Burk was killed. 

The history was then taken up by Skelton Jones, who 
contribtited about sixty-five pages ; when , Louis Hue 
Girardin, a Frenchman, (for a long while a teacher 
in Virginia) undertook to continue it, and having taken 
up his abode near Monticello, Mr. Jefferson supplied him 
with a large amount of Mss. matter: "yet the work is 
prolix and uninviting, read by few and sought by none who 
look merely for entertainment." In a work intended, to 
be confined to Virginia he undertook to introduce a complete 
history of the Revolutionary war, yet closes his historv 
with the seige of York.^ 

"Girardin displays an extravagant admiration for Jeffer- 
son; doubtless this feeling caused him to cany on Burk's 

1 Howison, Vol II. p. 279. 



72 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

work which was dedicated 'to Thomas Jefferson, as the 
guardian and patron of Virginia History, the best and most 
useful citizen in the repubhc, by his fellow-citizen, Burk.'" 
These first three volumes were printed by Dickson and 
Pescud in Petersburg, 1804. The fourth volume by Girardin 
was not published till 181O. 

Burk was assisted by two large Mss. containing the min- 
utes of the London Company, together with the proceedings 
of the Virginia Councils and Assembly to the middle of the 
reign of George II.; "a mine of information and the only 
copies, in existence." The documents were kept in public 
offices. 

"The library of William and Mary College contained the 
record of lives and manners (a Debt which their ancestors 
have paid to posterity) giving a lively picture of the customs 
of each age; — the transition of mind from barbarism to 
taste, — from tyranny to freedom." 

A vivid picture is drawn of the fatality attending the 
attempts at settlement; — of the forlornness of the colony, 
separated as it was from the world and embosomed in 
forests; though they found a country which might claim 
prerogative over the most pleasant places known. The 
union of ardor and patience in Smith, (in his efforts to 
fulfil his obligations to the Companv and preserve the 
colony,) must strike the most inattentive observer. 

Howison objects strenuously to Burk's manner of writ- 
ing; and though he considers the scene of Smith's rescue 
from captivity, "one which rivals the most romantic pages 
in the history of the world," yet he thinks Burk's account 
of it, inflated and declamatory: and in this author's 
description of Powhatan's coronation and that chief's obsti- 
nacy about assuming any appearance of humility, — Howi- 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 73 

son's irritation becomes so intense he holds Burk's national- 
ity as responsible for the characteristic style, saying " Burk's 
Irish bosom swells with pride, and with his bosom swells 
his language." Yet his critic unremittingly quotes Burk. 

Burk is instigated in writing his work by the knowledge 
of "several circumstances, which render the History of 
Virginia of interest and curiosity. 

"Being the first permanent British settlement here we 
must look for those ancient doctxments and materials, 
whose discovery throw light on the history of the other 
states. 

"It was the elder branch of a confederacy which threw 
down the gauntlet to kings; the asylum of oppressed 
humanitv ; faithfixl guardian and depositary of public 
spirit. 

"The materials diminishing, there has been made a chasm 
in public records, — and histor}" is often silent." 

This author undertakes "to keep clear of the correct 
though tedious circumstantiality of Stith" whom he con- 
siders "faithful, as far as he goes; his work only found 
in the libraries of the curious. " 

Also he avoids "the hasty, obscure brevity of Beverley, 
a mere annalist of petty incidents, without method; and 
an apologist of power. " 

Sir William Keith he finds more diffuse, more graceful 
and correct, indulging a little more in detail. 

As to Smith, his work is " a sort of epic history or romance 
and his achievements are recounted in the spirit with which 
he fought. His Narrative discovers good sense, occasionally , 
and raises interest. The ground work altogether contains 
a mass of valuable matter. " 



74 Sl'-]r.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

The highest tribute to Burk's work comes from Hening 
in liis Statutes, which are among the most valuable con- 
tributions to Virginia historical records. 

Pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia, 
passed on the 5th of February. 1808, — William Waller 
Hening published his " Statutes-at-Large" which were 
printed completely in the second edition in 1823 by R. & 
W. & G.» Barton, New York, a Collection of all the Laws 
of Virginia from the first session of the Legislature in 161 9. 

The Preface to the first edition he writes in Richmond, 
on August 29, 1809, which is as follows: 

"Whether I shall render an acceptable service to my 
native state in furnishing the only authentic materials for 
its early history which have hitherto been published and 
which display alike the virtues and vices, the wisdom and 
folly of our ancestors, I am at a loss to conjecture. 

"Until we come to the lan'S of a nation it is impossible 
to form a correct idea of its civil polity or of the state of 
society . 

"The colonv having been planted long after the revival 
of letters in Europe, as well as the general introduction of 
the use of the press, it might have been expected that 
everything relating to our early history would have been 
carefully preserved. 

"But though we have existed as a nation but little more 
than two hundred years, our public offices are destitute 
of official documents, and it is to the pious care of individ- 
uals only, that posterity will be indebted for those lasting 
momiments, which perpetuate the patient sufferings of 
the colonists. All papers except a few fragments, deposited 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 75 

in the archives of the Council of vState, and other public 
offices, were committed to the flames by the myrmidons 
of George III. 

"In the infancy of our legislation the laws were few and 
simple, relating chiefly to church government, to the 
culture of tobacco and other staple commodities, and to 
operations against the Indians. 

"There was rich treasure of information relating to the 
state of society among the first settlers: their religious 
intolerance, rise, progress and the establishment of our 
civil institutions: political events, affording lessons of 
things worthy to be imitated or shunned. 

"Rays of light are reflected by Mr. Burk, from scanty 
materials in his possession, on that portion of history. 

" During the existence of the Commonwealth of England, 
the whole period is in darkness or inaccurately represented 
by every historian who professes to depict it during this 
period. 

"Governors were all elected by the House of Burgesses 
in pursuance of powers vested in them, by provisional 
articles of government adopted at the surrender. 

"The Commerce of Virginia was more free than that of 
the Mother Country. 

"The Assembly took the powers of government in their 
own hands, and all writs were issued in the name of the 
Grand Assembly. 

"Between the resignation of Richard Cromwell and the 
restoration of Charles II. in 1660, when there was no 
resident, absolute and general confessed power in England, 
(by the second Act of the Assembly) Sir Wm. Berkeley 
was appointed governor. 



76 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"In 1630 the contents of a barrel of corn was fixed at 
five bushels, Winchester measure. 

"'In 1643 the first act for regulating lawyers, ^-^ have a 
license, was passed. 

"The acts of each session (in manuscript only) were pro- 
mulgated by being read to the people at the beginning of 
every monthly court and copies deposited in the clerk's 
office for inspection. Every settlement or plantation being 
entitled to as many representatives, as the inhabitants 
thought proper to elect, on their returnhome, they communi- 
cated to their neighbors the substance of the laws passed. 

"In 1773 an edition of laws was printed in London 
without date, called "Purvis' Collection." A second edi- 
tion of Purvis, bound with blank leaves for additions, but 
grossly inaccurate, was printed. 

"There was an Abridgement of the Laws of Virginia 
written in 1722, ascribed to Beverley and published in 1728. 

"The first revisal of Virginia laws was in 1642-3. In 
March 1657-8 there vvas another revisal. In March 1661-2 
there was another revisal. One object of this year's revisal 
(166 1-2) was 'to keep in memory their forced deviation 
from his majestv's obedience.' 

"The next revisal was in 1705. All of these exist in 
manuscript except Purvis'. 

" Beverley's and Mercer's abridgements were not revisals. 
In the mode adopted for the revision of the laws, their 
history and progress were lost. 

"A committee, — George Wythe, John Brown, John 
Marshall, Bushrod Washington and John Wickham, — was 
formed to collect all laws and clauses of laws and publish 
an edition of one thousand copies. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 77 

" Rut Thomas Jefferson contributed more than any other 
to the preservation of our ancient laws. 

"Until the reign of Queen Anne the English language 
was extremely variable; the best informed men would 
spell the same words differently. 

"In March 1660-1 the number of burgesses was limited 
to two for each county and one for the metropolis, James 
City. 

"The members of the Assembly were selected according 
to the required standard as persons of known integrity, 
good conversation and of twenty-one years of age. 

"The right of suffrage was limited to freeholders. 

"Bridges and ferries were first made a public expense, 
but the law was repealed, and county courts were vested 
with power to establish ferries, upon the application of 
individuals. 

"Assembly exercised the law establishing them but in 
the year 1806 this power was restored to the county courts. " 

In the preface to the second edition of the Statutes, 
written January 30. 1823, Hening gives an account of the 
progress of his work. 

"By the act of February 5, i8c8. authorizing the editor 
to publish the Statutes and prescribing the mode of authenti- 
cation, 150 copies were subscribed for on behalf of the 
commonwealth; which added to the 200 copies printed for 
the use of the editor's subscribers, made the impression 
350 copies only. Under this subscription the work pro- 
gressed to the end of the fourth vol., when the interrup- 
tions produced by the late war, and the death of the pub- 
lisher, Mr. Samuel Pleasants, Junior, ^^ occasioned its suspen- 
sion. When the committee on the Revised 'Code of 1819, 

'- First printer of Statutes. — At Large 



78 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

reported to the legislature, they so strongly recommended 
the continuation of the Statutes, that the Act of March lo, 
1819, was passed. By this act, the subscription on the part 
of the state was increased to 800 copies, but no provision 
was made for completing the sets of the first four volumes. 
The first having been long out of print and the state having 
a large surplus of the fifth and subsequent volumes, the 
act of January 24, 1823, was passed which provided for 
completing the set, and appropriated the proceeds of the 
sales of 500 copies under the superintendence of the execu- 
tive, to the purchase of a public library. In the first 
Edition commencing p. 238, the caption of the acts states 
them to have been taken from a Mss. belonging to Edmund 
Randolph, Esq. The volume was received from that gentle- 
man, by the editor, who understood it to be his property. 
But from two letters addressed to the editor by Thomas Jef- 
ferson, Esq., late President of the United States, the one 
dated April 25, 181 5, the other September 3, 1820, there 
was such conclusive evidence that the -Mss. belonged to 
him and had been borrowed from his library by Edmund 
Randolph, Esq., when he contemplated writing a history 
of Virginia that it has been sent to the library of Congress 
with the other Mss. included in Mr. Jefferson's Catalogue. 
The error has been corrected in this volume. (Vol. I. Ed. 
2d., 1823.)" 

Hening printed his first volume, ending 1660, from manu- 
script. 

An issue of the Virginia Gazette of 1739 advertized: "A 
Continuation of the x'lbridgement of the Public Acts of the 
Assembly of Virginia, by John Mercer, gent, containing the 
Acts of the last Session of the Assemblv and such Precedents 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 79 

as were omitted in the former Abridgment: with Direc- 
tions for the better understanding of the several Tables 
and for altering such clauses of the former Acts as are 
repealed or in any way interfere with the Laws of the last 
Session. August 31st, September 7, 1739." The issue 
announces that this book had just been printed. 

John Mercer, born in Dublin in 1704, was a distinguished 
lawyer, who settled in Marlborough, Stafford County, a 
town authorized by the Assembly. He was the author of 
an Abindgment of the Laws of Virginia, " the first digested 
code printed in Virginia, of which editions were printed at 
Williamsburg in 1737, and at Glascow in the year 1759." 

In the rich materials found in subsequent years in Mss. 
records of the period from 1656 to 1660,. of which Hening 
availed himself,^ among other items is the list of names of 
the men composing the "Assembly which asserted princi- . 
pies of liberty, not exceeded even by American visions of 
the nineteenth century." 

Members. 
Henrico. Siirry. 

Major Wm. Harris. Lieut. Col. Thomas Swarm, 

Mr. WiUiam Edwards, 
James City. j^ajor William Butler, 

Mr. Henry Soane, Capt. W^illiam Cawfeild. 



New Kent. 



Major Richard Webster, 

Mr. Thomas Loveinge, 

Mr. Wm. Corker. William Blacky. 

3 Hening I. pp. 429-431. "in no period of the colonial records under the Common- 
wealth are the materials so copious." 



80 



Sr-ll'.4rs- OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



Gloster. 
Lieut. Col. Anthony Elliott, 
Capt. Thomas Ramsey. 

Rappahannoc. 
Mr. Thomas Lucas. 

Lancaster. 
Col. John Carter, 
Mr. Peter Montague. 

Isle of Wight. 
Major John Bond, 
Mr. Thomas Tabenor, 
Mr. John Brewer, 
Mr. Joseph Bridger. 

Charles City. 
'Mr. William Horsmenden, 
Capt. Robert Wynne. 

Upper Norfolk. 
Left. Col. Edward Carter, 
Mr. Thomas Francis, 
Mr. Giles Webb. 



Lower Norfolk. 

Col. John Sidney, 
Major Lemuell Masonn. 

Elizabeth City. 
Major William, 
'Mr. John Powell. 

Warwick. 
John Smith, S|jeaker, 
Thomas Davis. 

Yorke. 
Mr. Jeremy Hain, 
Mr. Robert Borne. 

Northumberland. 
Mr. Peter Knight, 
Mr. John Haney. 

Northafnpton. 
Mr. William Kendall, 
Mr. William Mellinge, 
Capt. William Michell, 
Mr. Randall Revell, 
Mr. John Willcox. 



The writings of Jefferson are of much popular in tei est, — 
some being of a descriptive nature. His political writings 
lay down those Jeffersonian principles of government, so 
prized today. 

Tucker's biography gives in full the writing of Jefferson's 
•'Notes." 

" Immediateh' after Tarleton's incursion to Charlottes- 
ville, Mr. Jefferson retired-* 'with his family to Poplar Forest, 

■• Tarleton entered Charlottesville four days after Mr. Jefferson's term as governor 
expirod. Howe p. 167. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



81 



Bedford county, where riding over his farm, he was thrown 
from his horse and seriously injured. While confined in 
consequence of this fall, he occupied himself with answer- 
ing the queries which Mons. de Marbois, secretary of 
the French legation^ to the United States had submitted 
to him, respecting the physical and political condition of 




MoNTiCELLO — Seat of Thomas Jefferson. 
Virginia ; which answers were afterwards published bv him, 
under the title of 'Notes on Virginia.' These notes were 
printed in Paris in 1784, soon after his arrival there, as 
minister to the court of France. He had wished to publish 
them in America, but was prevented by the expense: in 
France the cost was about one-fourth. He corrected and 
enlarged them and printed 200 copies, presenting a few 
in Europe and sending the rest to America. 

"One copy falling into the hands of a bookseller in Paris, 
he had it translated into French, and submitted the transla- 
tion to the author for revision. It was a tissue of blunders, 
of which onty the most material were corrected, and thus 

» Then in Philadelphia. ^~ 



82 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

printed. A London bookseller having requested permis- 
sion to print the English original he consented, 'to let the 
World see that it was not really so bad as the French 
translation had made it appear.'" 

" These notes are still reckoned among the most agreeable 
of Jefferson's works. •'^" 

Jefferson's "Notes" divide Virginia into four sections: 

"The first,- — the alluvial section from the seacoast to the 
head of tidewater. 

"The second,- — the hilly or undulating section, from the 
head of tidewater to the Blue Ridge. 

"The third, — the valley section, lying between the Blue 
Ridge and the Alleghanies. 

"The fourth, — the Trans-Alleghany or western section, 
the waters of which flow into the Ohio river. 

"The mountains of Virginia are arranged in ridges one 
behind another, nearly parallel to the seacoast, rather 
bearing toward it to the northeast. The name Appa- 
lachian, borrowed from the country bordering on the Gulf 
of Mexico to the southwest, was applied to the mountains 
of Virginia in different ways by the European maps, but 
none of these ridges were ever known to the Virginia inhab- 
itants by that name. 

"The mountains extend from northeast to southwest, 
as also do limestone, coal and other geological strata. So 
also range the falls of the principal rivers, the courses of which 
are at right angles with the line of the mountains, the James 
and Potomac making their way through all the ridges 
eastward of the Alleghany range. 

The Alleghanies are broken by no water courses, being 
the spine of the country between the Atlantic and the 
Mississippi." 

* Howison Vol. II p. 467. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 83 

Of the bitterness of religious intolerance, Jefferson writes 
that, " By the time of the Revolution a majority of the 
inhabitants had become dissenters from the established 
religion, but were still obliged to pay contributions towards 
the support of its pastors. This unrighteous compulsion 
to maintain teachers of what they deemed religious errors, 
was grievously felt during the regal government. " 

At the first session in 1776 of the legislature, under the 
new consttution, Mr. Jefferson drafted and supported a 
law for the relief of the dissenters, which in a modified 
form finally passed. It declared all acts of Parliament 
which prescribe the maintenance of any opinions in matters 
of religion, the forbearing to repair to church, or the exer- 
cising any mode of worship whatsoever, to be of no validity 
within the commonwealth; it exempted dissenters from 
all contributions for the support of the established church. 
To protect the rights of conscience, it was not deemed 
enough to remove past injustice, but it was thought pru- 
dent to prevent its recurrence: therefore Mr. Jefferson 
introduced the act of religious freedom, which aimed to 
give its principles permanence. For several years there 
was no legislation upon this bill, but when finally it came 
up for discussion, after some opposition and some slight 
alterations, it passed without difficulty: and when, iniSoi, 
the overseers of the poor in each county were authorized 
to sell all the glebe lands, as soon as they became vacant 
by the death or removal of the incumbent, the last vestige 
of privilege, of the established church over other sects 
was completely eradicated,^ 



' Howe's Miscellanies p. 143. 




Of the many-sided citi-zen, Jefferson, — the writer of 
physical and pohtical Notes and of the I'eclaration of 
Independence; the champion of rehgious freedom; the 
patron of sciences and preserver of laws ; the architect of 
buildings, and the father of Virginia University, — it has 
been said, that the greatest good, he ever achieved for his 
country, was when he gained, by bloodless conquest, the 
Louisiana countrv. 



B]'-]VAVS OF VIRGIA'IA HISTORY 85 



CHAPTER VII. 

Late Historians. Howe. Howison. Campbell. 

"Education is necessary to national happiness and history must 
teach by a proper selection and arrangement o? facts. " 

A history differing from those preceding it, — in the 
division of its parts, — comes from the pen of Henry Howe, 
who wrote and pubhshed other state histories. The one 
of Virginia, written about 1845, ^^ in three divisions: — 

1. The OutHne; in which he follows Bancroft quite 
closely. 

2. Miscellanies; furnished from various sources; tradi- 
tional, historical and statistical. 

3. Antiquities; embracing county formations, alpha- 
betically arranged, and many curious incidents connected 
with their histories, together with sketches of some of the 
inhabitants. 

In preparing his stibject matter Howe found Charles 
Campbell, authof of the Colonial History of Virginia, a 
gentleman better informed upon the history of Virginia 
than any one he had met in the course of his investigations. 
About that time Campbell was contributing historical 
articles to the Southern Literary Messenger and doubtless 
supplied Howe with some of these publications. 

The condensed form of the Outline based upon such 
unquestioned authority ; the descriptive features and 
statistics of the Miscellanies, and the free illustration of the 
Antiquities, together with its fictional features, makes of 
the whole an interesting history, conveniently arranged. 



86 51'-TT-,4r5 OF VIRG1.\1A HISTORY 

Following his special work on Virginia, — the mother of 
states, — Howe published " The Great West" which contains 
narratives of importantand entertaining events, remarkable 
adventures, sketches of frontier life and descriptions of 
natural curiosities, — a volume enabling the reader to 
accompany the pioneers emigrating to Kentucky county, 
ceded later by Virginia to form a separate state,— which 
combines romance and historj^ in its association of individ- 
ual experience with the governmental institutions. 

Unfamiliarity with family liistory betrayed Howe into 
several blunders, which may be discovered by comparison 
of the different parts with each other. In descriptions of 
the siege at Yorktown he several times introduces members 
of the Nelson family. Of this family, Campbell states, 
there were two brothers, Thomas, who, having acted for 
a long time as Secretary of the Council, was known as 
Secretary Nelson; this Nelson had three sons, who were 
officers in the Revolutionary army. William Nelson, the 
brother of Thomas, was president of the Council and in 
1770, Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony; died in 1772, 
aged 61, leaving a large estate. President Nelson also had 
sons^ in the Revolutionary army; one of these, Thomas, 
was conspicuous both as general of militia and governor of 
the State. The Secretary and President Nelson both seem 
to have built handsome homes in Yorktown but at the time 
of the siege President Nelson had been dead^ ten years. 

Howe gives a description of "the Nelson mansion 
erected by the Hon. William Nelson, which, during the 
Revolution, was the property of Governor Thomas Nelson, 

1 Howison p. 267 says William and Robert were captured near Charlottesville by 
Tarleton. 

' Howe records this. 



fir-ir.4FS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 87 

his son. During the siege of York, the house was bom- 
barded by the American troops. Gov. Nelson, then in 
Washington's army, had command of the first batter}'-, 
which opened upon the town. Rightly supposing it (the 
Nelson house) was occupied by some of the British officers, 
he pointed the first gun against his own dwelling and offered 
a reward to the soldiers of five guineas, for every bom- 
shell that should be fired into it. "^ 

Under the heading "Hanover county" (page 295) "an 
interesting notice" is given from the "Travels" of Marquis 
de Chastallux, — "The Marquis arrived about noon at 
Offiey, the seat of the then ex-Gov. Nelson * * * * * 
whose acquaintance he made at the siege of York * * * 
He describes the venerable ex-secretary Nelson, father of 
Gov. Nelson, whose elegant house, beiiig occupied by 
Lord Cornwallis during the siege, was at last entirely 
destroyed by the cannon shot of the Americans. The 
two sons of the secretary were in the American army and 
sent a flag to the British general requesting permission 
for their father to leave the town; which request Cornwallis 
humanely granted. " 

In his account of the first custom house Campbell states 
that it stood near the handsome home of Secretary Nelson 
at Yorktown. The Secretary had retired from public 
affairs upon the breaking out of the Revolution, but was 
living in his house, which stood near the defensive works, 
when Cornwallis made his headquarters there. The place 
soon attracted the attention of the French artillery and 
was almost entirely demolished. Secretary Nelson was 
in it when the first shot killed one of his negroes at a little 
distance from him. What increased his solicitude was 



3 Howe p. 521, York Co." 













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BY-IVAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 89 

that he had two sons in the American army, so that every 
shot, whether fired from the town or the trenches, might 
prove equally fatal to him. 

"When a flag was sent in to request that he might be 
conveyed within the American lines, one of his sons was 
observed gazing wistfully at the gate of the town by which 
his father, then disabled b}^ gout, was to come out. Corn- 
wallis permitted his withdrawal, and he was taken to 
Washington's headquarters. Upon alighting, with a serene 
countenance, he related to the officers, who stood around 
him, what had been the effect of their batteries and how 
much his mansion had suffered from the fi.rst shot. "^ 

Howe^ narrates Secretarj^ Nelson's adventures after his 
servant was killed. " Cornwallis' headquarters were orig- 
inally in a splendid brick house, belonging to Secretary 
Nelson, the ruins of which are now visible in the large and 
continuous redoubt constructed by the British at the end 
of the town. He (the Secretary) remained there until a 
servant was killed, when he removed into the town. Fifty 
or sixty yards from his dwelling, on the hillside, at the 
lower end of the redoubt, he had a cave excavated in the 
earth: it was hung with green baize and used solely for 
holding councils of war. 

"There is a cave in the solid mass of stone marl which 
forms the river bank, improperly called Cornwallis' Cave. 
This was used for a sutlery : it is now a piggery. 

"When the storm burst upon Virginia in 1781, Thomas 
Nelson, then governor, was employed in effecting plans to 

* Campbell p. 747. 
'■' p. 530. 



90 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIMA HISTORY 

oppose the enemy, but was compelled to unite in himself 
the two offices of governor and commander of the military 
forces. " 

Girardin says "the first balls from the cannon trained 
upon Governor Nelson's home, pierced its sides and killed 
two officers then sitting at table, and in a short time the 
house was cut to pieces by the fire. " 

From the several accounts it may be inferred that Corn- 
wallis made his headquarters in Secretary Nelson's home 
while some of his officers had possession of the deserted 
home of Governor Nelson, both places being destroyed 
during the siege. Afterwards the Marquis de Chastallux 
seems to have met the aged Secretaiy in the country home 
of his nephew, Gov. Thomas Nelson. 

Another discrepancy occurs in Howe's explanations of 
the term "Old Dominion" as applied to Virginia, the 
result of his quoting authorities which differed in their 
accounts: that in the Outline appears to be regarded as 
authentic, while the tradition of the Miscellanies is dis- 
puted by many and positively denied by Hening. 

At the close of his Virginia volume, Howe devotes a few 
pages to the District of Columbia, illustrating those pages 
with some of the Capital's famous structures. 

"The History of Virginia from its Discovery and Settle- 
ment by Europeans to the Present Time" published in 
two volumes,— is dedicated by its, author, Robert R. 
Howison "To the People of Virginia," and was issued in 
1846 by Carey & Hart of Philadelphia. Only after he 
had completed the first volume did the author realize 
the immense amount of labor required to finish the 
work he had undertaken, and therefore he was uncertain 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 91 

about the completion of the second volume. In the first 
volume, "he had endeavored to draw from the purest 
fountains of light, the rays of which he sought to shed 
upon his subject and had laboured with earnestness in 
examining, sifting and comparing the evidence, upon 
which he relied, verifying every material statement of 
fact by reference to the original authorit}^ in order to 
guide those who might wish to test the accuracy of his 
work. " 

Howison confides to his reader that he was induced, by 
a sense of his own ignorance, to turn his thoughts to the 
sources from which might be drawn knowledge concerning 
his native state. Considering that its history deserved to 
be studied, he found that its infancy was attended by 
events which have imparted to her, all the interest that the 
romance of real life can afford; in her very childhood 
she presented a model of those republican governments 
which have since yielded happiness to millions in the 
western hemisphere; and in more mature years she 
contributed by her statesmen, her precepts, and her example, 
to give character to the great Confederacy of which she 
is a member. 

Howison divides his history into four parts: i. To 
embrace the period from Discovery and Settlement to 
the Dissolution of the London Company, 1624. 2. From 
1624 to the Peace of Paris in 1763. 3. From 1763 to the 
Adoption, by Virginia, of the Federal Constitution, 1788. 
4. From 1788 to the present time (1846.) 

This author considers "among the writers, who have 
devoted attention to her i)rogress, some of their works 
possess merit which ought to have introduced them to 
general notice: but they have been read by the few, and 
neglected by the many. The Histories of Smith, Beverley, 



m BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

Keith, vStith, Burke and Campbell" are either entirely out 
of print or so nearly so that they cannot be obtained without 
much diffculty. 

"While it is true that Virginians in the mass have never 
been a reading people, still from 'the settlement to the present 
time, men have lived in Virginia, who have loved learning 
with sacred affection, exceeded by none. In 1621, while 
George Sandys was in the Colony, he entertained his leisure 
hours in translating the work published in 1632 under the 
title of "Ovid's Metamorphoses, Englished, mythologized 
and represented in figures." Sand3^s was one of the 
scholars of the day, and a few time-worn copies of his book 
may yet be found in Virginia. 

"In modern years William Munford translated another 
greatpoem of antiquity. Homer's "Iliad," into English blank 
verse, which, though left complete at his death in 1825, 
was not published until 1846. It was printed in Boston, in 
two elegant octavo volumes. The reader who knows only 
English, and who wishes to know how and what Homer 
really wrote, should read Munford's translation. 

" Many light fragments by massive minds add to Virginia's 
literary stores. William Wirt's British Spy has long been 
admired and the letters of John Randolph of Roanoke, 
while they have not increased his fame, are interesting from 
association. 

"Virginia's Earliest History, a confused mass of informa- 
tion, takes its name from John Smith, and beyond denial, 
the best parts are from Smith's own pen." Howison 

gives a specimen of the poetry with which the writers in 



6 The Campbell to whom reference is made was J. W. Campbell, the father of the 
historian, Charles Campbell, who published a history in 1860. The elder Campbell 
wrote a small but valuable work on Virginia, published in 1813. 



51'-H^41^5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 03 

Smith's history have besprinkled their narratives. "Thej^ 
entertained him with most strange and fearefuli conjura- 
tions : 

"As if neare led to hell, 

Amongst the Devils to dwell." (Smith I, p. t6o) 
Attention is drawn to a strange anachronism which occurs 
in the original account of Smith's sending two Englishmen 
and four Gerrnans to build a house for Powhatan, when 
they are said to have left Jamestown on December 29, 1608, 
and yet we are told afterwards that they spent their Christ- 
mas among the Indians. But that this champion of 
Smith's deserts does not intend to reflect discredit upon 
any act or statement of one he calls the hero of Virginia, 
we clearly perceive, for alluding to Smith's letter to the 
Queen, "which produced the happy effect of exciting her 
sympathies in behalf of Pocahontas" he sa^^s "did nothing 
remain to us of his writings except this letter written in 
the true spirit of an English gentleman, it would suffice 
to give us an insight into his character, frank, modest and 
manl3^ " 

Referring to Smith's penetrations, and surveys, from 
which he prepared his map of astonishing accuracy and 
extent, Howison grows eloquent over what was then 
accomplished, saying it would be pleasing to follow Smith 
into every creek, to land upon every island — to mark each 
green valley — to commingle with the natives and learn their 
language and manners, as in those two summer voyages he 
awed the war-like by his courage, conciliated the peaceful 
by his gentleness and discovered the exhaustless resources 
of the land, while exposed to wind andweather, insubordina- 
tion of his crew, and the treachery of the savages; but this 
would give Smith undue proportion of history. In justify- 



94 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

ing the seizure of land, our author beheves the law of nature 
could not be held to give to a handful of savages thinly 
scattered over an immense tract of land — where they 
hunted much and cultivated little, a right to exclude civil- 
ized settlers, though justice required that they should con- 
sent to sell and receive a fair equivalent for those parts to 
which they had acquired a title by settlement. The 
wilderness was open to all, and if Indians had a right to 
hunt, Europeans had an equal right to fell the trees, plant 
the ground, and reclaim treasures of nature for purposes 
of refined life. ^ That the number of natives rapidly dimin- 
ished before the advancing step of civilization was due to 
a law, antecedent to enactments of the Assembly, not 
influenced by the will of the white settlers. 

The natives cultivated a grain known as maize or Indian 
corn, which was prolific in increase and highly nutritious 
for food, and the colonists were soon well pleased to adopt 
it; but there was required many years to introduce it to 
the tables of the enlightened Europeans. Sir Robert Peel, 
the Premier of England in 1846, discovered that in America, 
Indian corn was used for "human food" and recommended 
its free importation: but as an article of diet it would seem, 
that his countrymen have not shown eagerness to adopt 
his recommendation. 

Howison quotes Smith in his description of a fruit, the 
persimmon, still well known in Virginia: a tree "they call 
Ptitchamin, which grow as high as a palmeta, the fruit is 
like a medler: it is first green, then yellow and red when it 
is ripe: if it be not ripe, it will draw a man's mouth awry 
with much torment, but when it is ripe, it is as delicious 
as an apricot."® 

' Howison Vol. I, pp. 114-n5. 
8 Smith I, p. 122. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



95 



Howison reached the concUision, after a review of her 
history, that no state of the Union had cherished its 
principles and improved its advantages more than Virginia. 
Her sons had been ever active in the Council Chamber and 
the field. Patrick Henry had "set the ball in motion, 
and driven it forward by the breath of his eloquence." 
Thomas Jefferson had written the Charter around which 
ever}' state was to rally in the hour of danger. 
^..Richard Henry Lee had supported Independence at the 
critical moment. Randolph, Pendleton, Mason, Wythe, 
Carr and Harrison had all borne their part in encouraging 
the soul of freedom. 




MONTPELIER, THE SEAT OF PRESIDENT MaDISON. 

And in arms, Virginia had not been less distinguished: 
George Washington had gone from her bosom to lead the 
armies of America to triumph; Morgan had left his home 
in the Valley, to penetrate the forests of Maine, to head 
the forlorn hope at Quebec, to drive the enemy before him 
at Saratoga and to overwhelm Tarleton at the Cowpens; 
Mercer had fought and bled at Princeton; Stephens had 



96 Br-ir.-ir5 of mrgixia history 

battled even in defeat at Camden and gathered fresh 
laurels at Guilford ; George Rogers Clarke had entered the 
wilderness and conquered a new empire for his country. 

The first voice of warning had been raised in Virginia 
and the last great scene of battle had been viewed on her 
soil.^ 

"Those among whom we live, like actors on a stage, appeal* 
to us, vmder such a dress, as best may suit with the present 
times and with the characters they assume. To these their 
words and actions are accommodated, so that it is hardly possible 
to penetrate into their real sentiments or draw out the truth to 
light from the darkness under which it is industriously concealed. 
But in the accounts of former ages, the facts themselves disclose 
to us the real motives and genuine disposition of the actors." 

Turning to Charles Campbell for a last rendering of 
Virginia's repeated story, we learn from him, that while 
Virginia must be content with a secondary and unpretend- 
ing rank in the general department of history, yet in the 
abtmdance and the interest of her historical materials, she 
may, without presumiption, claim pre-eminence among 
the Anglo-American colonies. And while developing the 
rich resources with which nature has so munificently en- 
dowed her, she ought not to neglect her past, which teaches 
so many useful lessons, and carries with it so many proud 
recollections. Her documentary history lying much of 
it slumbering in the dusty oblivion of Transatlantic archives, 
ought to be collected with piotis care, and embalmed in 
the perpetuity of print. 

He writes, as he warns his reader in his prefatory remarks, 
in conformity with the maxim of Lord Bacon, that " it is 

9 Howison depicts very clearly the part borne by Virginia in the war with Great 
Britain in 1812. Her support of Madison's measures, her contribution of treasure 
and people to the defence of the countrj". her sufferings from depredations of the 
enemy and endurance of the hardships of war at Hampton, Craney Island, the White 
House and various other points along the Potomac. 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 97 

the duty of history to represent the events themselves, to- 
gether with the counsels, and to leave the observations and 
conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of ev^ery 
man's judgment. " 

While the reader might become wearied over lengthy 
paragraphs of crowded facts, his interest is fastened by 
the many personal notes in the family history of the prin- 
cipal actors in many scenes. These begin with the life of 
Smith and for information about him Campbell relies upon 
Hillard's "Life of Smith," Spark's 'American Biography 
and Simms' "Life of Smith." 

Our author would have the sculptor's art present a 
fitting memorial of Smith in the metropolis of Virginia and 
considers that a complete edition of his works would be a 
valuable addition to American historical literature. He 
notes that the learned Grahame considers Smith's writings 
on colonization, superior to those of Lord Bacon. Smith 
in his role of father of the colony, is " a hero like Bayard, 
without fear and without reproach;" further, Campbell 
delights in repeating the description, from one of his com- 
rades, who in deploring his departure, testifies that "Smith 
was one who in all his actions made justice and prudence his 
guides, abhorring baseness, idleness, pride and injustice."^" 
Yet even so partial a biographer remarks upon a singular 
omission in Smith's earliest work, that "he makes no allu- 
sion to his rescue by Pocahontas." Howison characterizes 
Smith's silence upon subjects which might reflect credit, 
on himself, as his genuine modesty, "which concealed 
many facts the world would have delighted to learn:" 
in this instance, it would seem that the debtor, for so timely 
a service, would eagerly have seized the opportunity to 
publish it. 
JO CampbeU p. 82^ 



98 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In the selection of subjects for his history Campbell takes 
under consideration, — the several discoveries which enabled 
the colonists to land on the American continent under 
conditions which gave promise to the success of the enter- 
prise; their settlement and gradual acquirement of prop- 
erty ; the establishment growing firmer with wise manage- 
ment; the various changes of administration; the disputes 
with the mother country; revolutionary commotions and 
proceedings; the Declaration of Rights and of Independ- 
ence; the events of the war, terminating in the investment 
of Yorktown and surrender there of the English forces; — 
closing his annals of "the Colony and Ancient Dominion 
of Virginia" with the scene of its death struggle,- — finishing 
in lines which epitomize Virginia's part in what he calls 
"the Drama of the Revolution — " "opened by Henry and 
now virtually terminated by Washington and his compan- 
ion-in-arms. " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 99 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The London Company's Venture. Dangers and Diffi- 
culties OF Settlement. 

"High caste is the result of high actions, and by actions does a 
man degrade himself to a caste that is low. " 

After the lapse of one hundred and ten years from the 
time of Cabot's discovery of Virginia's coast, and in the 
third year of his reign, James I. granted a patent authorizing 
stockholders, mostly resident in London, to establish the 
Southern Colony. 

Nearly a year was consumed in preparatory arrange- 
ments; these being finally matured, Thomas Smith, a 
successful merchant, who had been Raleigh's principal 
assignee and now received the order of knighthood, — as 
the treasurer of the company formed for the management 
of the enterprise,— was entrusted with the chief manage- 
ment. 

Those who set forth to form the first Colony, numbered 
one hundred and five persons; fifty-four of whom, in the 
shipping list are specified as gentlemen,^ besides whom there 
were eleven laborers, four carpenters, one blacksmith, one 
bricklayer, a sailor, a mason, a barber, a tailor, a drummer, 
and a chirurgeon, — authorized to plant a colony in the 
district between 34° and 40° north latitude. 

This colony sent by the London Company, in a small 
ship (Susan or Sarah Constant) of 100 tons burthen and 



1 Howison thinks the influtace of these first settlers gave a peculiar bias to Vir- 
ginia's population Vol. I. p. 89. 

LOfC. 



100 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

two accompanying barks, (Godspeed or Goodspeed and 
Discovery) under the command of Capt. Christopher New- 
port sailed from Blackwell, December 19, 1606. Through 
Gosnold's persuasions both John Smith and the Rev. Robert 
Hunt had joined this company. 

Empowered with what sei"ved as an experimental patent, 
the company of adventurers went forth to spy out the land 
which was to furnish them, if only a temporary abiding 
place, at least an extensive field for their operations. A 
weary and disheartening journey of many week's duration, 
had wellnigh resulted in their determination to return to 
England, when the accident of a storm drove them into 
the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, which revealed to them a 
point of comfort.^ 

Upon arrival at the various waters and localities they 
gave them English names, but the beautiful Indian 
Chesapeake was never re-christened. One of the ''true 
lovers^ of Virginia" thinks all interested in her history 
must deplore that the same fortune did not attend the 
name of the river, Powhatan, a title so pregnant with 
associations of Indian valor and the departed glory of her 
empire. 

Nearing the capes which they called after their princes, 
the beloved Prince of Wales, whose early death disappointed 
the hopes of many, and his brother, the Duke of York, to 
whom as Charles I. they were to render the allegiance of 
English subjects, — they landed upon Cape Charles, and 
there came in contact with the first natives. " Before they 
made a selection, the colonists met with several Indian 
nations, one of whom was the Accawmacke." 

2 A similar experience when returning from Pianketank in the summer of 1608 
caused them again to turn to this point for shelter. 
3Howison Vol. I. p. 92. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 101 

Pursuing their course along the Southern shore they 
discovered a good harbour. Landing the second time, 
they met with five Indians, — more timid and also friendlier 
than the first — of the Paspahegh tribe. Searching for 
a suitable place of settlement and trusting to discover this 
from information furnished by the savages, they gladly 
availed themselves of these Indians' invitation to visit 
their town, Kecoughtan, where they were entertained with 
bread made of Indian corn meal; and afterwards with 
tobacco and a dance. 

While undecided regarding their location, the chief of 
this tribe, "being made acquainted with their design" 
offered them as much land as they wanted. 

A member4 of the company thus chronicles their adven- 
tures: "On the 8th of May, v\^e landed in the country of 
Apamatica. At Chesupioc Bay we set up a Crosse. We 
came to our seating place in Paspiha's country, some eight 
miles from the point of Land where ourshippes do lie. We 
pitched upon a peninsular where the ships could be in six 
fathoms of water moored to the trees. " 

The view which met their gaze was of boundless forests 
watered by fresh running streams, the sight of which gave 
peculiar delight. The only cleared land was occupied as 
seats of the natives, where their tepees were spread. 

What they found in the way of food is further told. 
"At this time of yeare, the people live poore, their corn 
being newly put in the ground, their old store spent, their 
best relief is oysters and crabs and such fish as they take 
in their wateres. They had been newly roasting Oysters 
and we ate some, large and delicate; and opening some 

* Percy in his "Discourse," cited by Brown. 



102 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

we found in them Pearles. We found also beautiful straw- 
berries, bigger and better than ours in England." 

A particular description ^ of their situation bounds it on 
the north by a small but deep and navigable river, which 
united on the east with the main stream, on the south by 
the river itself and on the west by the same ; being connected 
with the main land at this end by a short neck, so low as 
to be entirely covered by very high tides, when the penin- 
sular becomes an island. It contained about 2,000 acres 
of arable land, low at the eastern end and rising gradually 
westward; and several thousands acres of marsh, covered 
with water at high tide. Of this tract the settlers selected 
the west end, it being the highest part, for the site of their 
town. 

" Here they proceeded to knock up small sheds or shanties 
in great haste, thatching them over with the long grass 
taken from the marsh" thus managing to secure sufficient 
shelter against sun and rain, until they could build more 
substantially. 

As neither ties of kindred, nor interest of property existed 
for them in this strange country, where privation met 
them upon landing and danger soon followed, the anticipa- 
tion of returning home to enjoy the fruits of service during 
self-imposed exile, alone upheld them through all trials. 
More than a decade of years was to pass before any plan 
of establishing themselves with their families permanently 
upon the soil, entered their thoughts and then the little 
germ of amor patriae was awakened by the individual 
acquirement of land. 

Enthusiasm because of the novelty of their position, seems 
to have characterized their first efforts. This rare collection 

6 Va. His. Reg. 1849. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 103 

of pioneers fell to work with spirit, each to his apportioned 
duty. Intent upon accomplishing what Raleigh had so 
earnestly attempted, but was forced by disasters to abandon 
we judge these were bold adventurers, — who started from 
overcrowded marts and scenes of rural industry — aware 
of the risk of the enterprise, and unaccustomed to the 
kind of labor thrust upon them, yet willing to give time 
and labor to duties which fell to their lot. 

Smith believed that the location at Jamestown would 
serve as the site for a large city, but the first summer's 
residence there proved so unhealthy, exposed as it was to 
the malaria of extensive marshes, the wonder is that the 
colonists did not sooner'' abandon the locality for another 
section of the country. Newport returned to England 
June 15, 1607, leaving a hundred and four of the com- 
pany which he had landed in May. Soon after his depar- 
ture, disease appeared, to assist the Indian scalping 
knife, in rapidly decreasing the little community; and 
during the summer months over fifty persons perished, 
a list of whose names is to be found in the Discourse of 
Hon. George Percy. ^ 

"There was night and day groaning in every corner of 
the Fort most pitifuU to heare, without reliefe for the space 
of sixe weeks, some departing out of the World three or 
four in the night and in the morning their bodies were 
trailed out of their Cabines like Dogges to be buried. " The 
worthy Gosnold, projector of the expedition, was among 
the victims, whose life became sacrificed through the poor 
quality of rations daily allowed; many died from actual 
starvation. 

^ It seems to have required a half century's seasoning to acclimatize them. 
' Genesis of America Vol. I, pp. 167-8. 



104 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Their condition may be better understood when it is 
remembered that the sick depended upon a pint of dam- 
aged wheat or barley and the rest, upon sturgeon and crabs, 
for their subsistence. During this distressing season they 
had the spiritual ministrations of clergyman Hunt and the 
faithful attentions of the surgeon general Thomas Wotton, 
(the chirurgeon of the shipping list.) Anxiously they were 
tended during illness, and, if rudely buried, there yet 
remains the memorial list of their names made at the time 
of their decease. The first death recorded is that of John 
Asbie, on August 6, 1607. 
August 9th. — George Floure, of the swelling. 

" loth. — Wm. Bruster, of a wound by savages, 

gentleman. 
" 14th. — Jerome x\likock, of a wound by savages, 
ancient. 
14th. — James Midwinter died suddenly. 
14th. — Edward Moris, died suddenly. 
15th. — Edward Browne and Stephen Galthorpe. 
1 6th. — Thomas Gower, gentleman. 
17th. — Thomas Mounslie. 
1 8th. —Robert Pennington, gentleman. 
18th. — John Martine, gentleman, 
igth. — Drue Peggase, gentleman. 
2 2d. — Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, one of the 
Council. Honorably buried: All the Ordnance 
in the Fort shot off with many voUies of sinall 
shot. 
24th. — Edward Harrington and George Walker 

buried the same da}'. 
26th. — Kenelme Throgmorton. 
27th. — William Roods. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 105 

August 28th. — Thomas Stoodie,"* Cape-merchant (store- 
keeper or treasurer.) 
September 4th. — Thomas Jacob, sergeant. 
" 5th. — Benjamin Beast. 

" 1 8th. — Ellis Kinnistone, starved to death with 

cold. 
" 1 8th. — at night, Richard Simmons. 

19th. — Thomas Moulton * * * * 

* * * * George Kendall, in attempting to seize 
the pinnace and escape to England was captiired, tried by 
a jury, convicted, and shot. His conduct previously had 
caused the colonists to displace him from the Council, of 
which he had been appointed a member. 

Early in the winter of 1607-8 Smith set forth on the fateful 
exploring expedition up the waters of the Chickahominy 
which resulted in his capture and detention at the various 
Indian towns, subject to Powhatan and his brother. This 
trip cost the lives of three of his party : one, George Cassen, 
who by disobeying orders in leaving the barge during the 
absence of Smith, was surprised and killed: the two others, 
Robinson and Emry were accompanying Smith on a short 
excursion, when they were attacked by Indians and slain, 
while Smith was foraging toward the head of the river in 
marshy ground, called " the slashes. " 

Upon his release and return to Jamestown, Smith found 
the number of the colonists much reduced, but at New- 
port's arrival there were landed nearly a hundred more, 
among them, Matthew Scriviner, gentleman, who became 
a prominent member of the Council, but was drowned in 
1609. Again, Capt. Francis Nelson, commander of the ship, 
"Phoenix," which arrived in the spring, added 120 more. 

'Campbell p. 41, and Stith p. 46 give the treasurer's name Thomas Studley. 



lOG BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Of these passengers, ^^ were gentlemen; 21 laborers, 
(soni.e of them only footmen;) 6 tailors, 2 apothecaries, 
2 jewellers, 2 gold-refiners, 2 goldsmiths, a gunsmith, a per- 
fumer, a surgeon, a cooper, a tobacco-pipe maker, a black- 
smith, and others. 

Newport^ carried back to England Ed. Wingfield. Capt. 
Gabriel Archer and Martin returned with Nelson.^" 

Minister Hunt "an honest, religious and courageous 
divine, dm-ing whose life our factions were oft qualified, 
our wants and greatest extremities comforted" was sent 
out by Hakluyt and received a salary of ;!C5oo by agreement 
of the Company in England with the Council in Virginia. 
He had taken a year for reflection, before consenting to the 
project, but decided in time to join the adventurers who 
landed the spring of 1607; the first English speaking 
missionary who preached in the country. 

His first place of worship was arranged by spreading an 
old sail over trees; "the area being enclosed by wooden 
rails and seats provided by unhewn logs; the pulpit, a 
wooden crosspiece nailed to two trees." Later a chapel 
was erected with a view to temporary service "set upon 
cratchets, covered with rafts, sedge and earth:" but this 
edifice " took fire and was all consumed with many of their 
dry-thatched dwellings, palisades, bedding, arms and 
apparel. " 

One Perkins and his son lately landed, "lost all they 
possessed except a mattrass which had not been carried on 
shore" and "good master Hunt, lost all his library and 
every thing but the cloaths on his back. "^^ 

9 CampbeU, p. 53. 

'» Smith His. Va. Vol. I, p. 172. 

'1 Macaiilay says the English chaplains might be considored fortunate if they 
acquired ten or twelve dog-eared volumes, for the sale of their whole living would 
not purchase a collection of any considerable size. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 107 

Not long after Newport's departure in the spring of 1608 
"John Laydon^^ and Anna Burrows (Anne Burras) were 
marry'd together, the first Christian Marriage in that 
Part of the World. "^^ This ceremony was performed by 
the Reverend Hunt. 

When Newport departed also "Smith and Scriviner 
divided betwixt them the rebuilding of Jamestown and the 
church." (One of these earty churches according to Byrd 
"cost no more than £^0.") Here service was read daily 
and two sermons were preached on Sunday ; the commun- 
ion being celebrated every three months 

Overcome by privations Mr. Hunt is said to have died 
after a sojourn of three years in the colony. 

On June 2, 1608, Smith with seven gentlemen (including 
Dr. Walter Russel, recently arrived) and seven sailors, 
embarked in an open barge on a voyage for exploring the 
Chesapeake. At Cape Charles they were directed to the 
dwelling-place of the Werowance of Accomac, who was 
found courteous and friendly and the handsomest native 
yet seen. His people spoke the language of Powhatan. 
Searching for fresh water thev came to the river, Pocomoke, 
the northern part of which they named Watkins' Point, 
after one of the soldiers, and a hill on the south side, Keale's 
Hill, after another. 

On this voyage they came across the tribes Nanse, 
Sarapinagh, Arseek and Nantaquak: people of small 
stature, who wore the finest furs, were the most expert in 
trade and manufactured a great deal of Roenoke. 

During their return, while amusing himself spearing a 
fish with his, sword, Smith was so poisoned by its sting, his 

n During 1609, Virginia Laydon, the first Virginia child was bom. 
>3 Beverley, p. 19, .\pril. I(i09. 



108 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

companions concluded his death was near, and by his 
directions, prepared his grave on a neighboring island. 
This incident caused their return to Jamestown, where 
however, they did not tarry. Smith having recovered, 
set forth again, accompanied this time by six, gentlemen, — 
Anthony B agnail, surgeon, among them and six sailors. 

Reaching the head of Chesapeake Bay, they met with 
Indians, Smith supposed to be the Iroquois of the Five 
Nations.^* 

At this time they met with the gigantic Susquesahan- 
nocks, living on the stream of a .similar name, that and 
their own supposed to be derived from Suckahanna, (water.) 

The extreme limits of discovery were marked by crosses 
carved in the bark or by brass crosses fastened to the trees. 

Mr. Richard Fetherstone, a gentleman of the company, 
died on this voyage, and was buried on the banks of the 
Rappahannock River, where a bay was named in memory 
of him. On Septemiber 7, 1608, the travellers arrived to 
find many changes at Jamestown, where there had been 
much sickness among the people and many deaths. 

Disappointment at the result of their investments in the 
interprise, caused the English Council to write Smith a 
letter, ^^complaining of the state of things in the colonv and 
declaring that unless the expenses (about ^2,000) of a ship 
sent by Capt. Newport the fall of 1608) should be paid 
by her return cargo, they would abandon the settlers to their 
own resources ; to which Smith sent the following replv , con- 
sidered by one of his biographers, characteristic of his 
vigorous, acute and manly nature. " The Planters in Virginia, 
their purses and lives were subject to some few here in 

n Smith I, p. 147. 

1' Which Howison calls an intemperate letter Vol. I, p. 145. Smith I, 200-i03. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 109 

London, who were never there, that consumed all in 
Arguments, Projects and their own conceits, ever}-" yeere 
trying newe conclusions, altering every thing veareley as 
they altered opinions, till they had consumed more than 
;^2oo,ooo and neere eight thousand men's lives. Now 
because 1 answered not the Merchant's expectations with 
profit, they writ to me, if we failed the nexte returne they 
would leave us there as banished men, as if houses and all 
those commodities did grow naturalty, only for us to take 
at our pleasure — with such tedious Letters, directions and 
instructions and most contrary to that was fitting, we did 
admire how it was possible such wise men could so torment 
themselves and us with such strange absurdities and 
impossibilities, making Religion their Colour, when all their 
aime was nothing but present profit as most plainly 
appeared. "^^ 

Hitherto Smith had refused to accept the office of Presi- 
dent several times proposed to him, but on September, 
1 608, he at length consented. The church was repaired, 
the storehouse covered and magazines erected for supplies, 
the fort changed to a pentagon figure, the watch renewed 
and troops trained. Smith found sufficient occupation for 
his restless energies. 

The President experienced the greatest difficulty in pro- 
viding a sufficiency of food for the settlers, they being pre- 
served from star^^ation by unremitting exertions on his part, 
"trying of his conclusions" with the natives, in order to 
discover where he might obtain food, as the arrival of the 
English vessels afforded only temporary relief. Of 200 
colonists many were billeted among the Indians, thus 
becoming familiar with their manner of life. 



'* "Pathway to Experience to erect a plantation." 



no BY-M^'AYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

A spirit prevailed of surmounting difficulties, as though 
they realized that only perseverance could secure perma- 
nent success, in making Virginia a valuable possession. 

Disappointment in their hopes caused the Company to 
obtain a new charter, transferring power to themselves 
and incorporating many societies and individuals of wealth 
and power. 

In place of a president, — the office which had been filled 
by Wingfield, Ratcliffe, Smith and Percy in turn, — a 
governor, in the person of Lord Delaware, was appointed 
but as he did not embark for more than a 3^ear, his Lieut- 
governor, Sir Thomas Gates," and the admiral. Sir George 
Somers and Newport, com.mander, were sent with authority 
to take upon themselves the administration until Dela- 
ware arrived, whichever was first to reach Jamestown. 

Of the vessels which sailed from Plymouth toward the 
end of May, 1609, the list given is as follows: — 

The Sea-Adventure or Sea-VenUire, Admiral Sir George 
Somers with Sir Thomas Gates and Capt. Christopher 
Newport. 

The Diamond, Captain Ratclif[e and Captain King. 

The Falcon, Captain Martin and Master Nelson. 

The Blessing, Gabriel Archer and Captain Adams. 

The Unity, Captain Wood and Master Pett. 

The Lion, Captain Webb. 

The Swallow, Captain Moon and Master Somers. 

There were also in the company two smaller craft, a 
ketch and pinnace. 

"Within eight day's sail of Virginia they were caught in 
the tail of a hurricane, which continued for fortv-eight 
hours. Some of the vessels lost their masts, some had 



1' Campbell. Footnote, p. 77. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 111 

their sails blown from the yards, the sea breaking over the 
ships. On July 24th a small vessel was lost and the Sea- 
Venture was separated from the other vessels. Smithes 
history describes the terrifying scene. 

"When rattling thunder ran along the clouds, 
Did not the sailors poor and masters proud, 
A terror feel as struck with fear of God? " 

These vessels brought " divers gentlemen of good means and 
high birth, but among the three hundred settlers, were 
profligate youths, packed off from home to escape ill desti- 
nies, broken down gentleinen, bankrupt tradesmen, decayed 
tapsters, and ostlers trade-fallen, the cankers of a calm 
world and long peace. " 

Among the English youths who were exchanged or 
quartered with the Indians — some to learn their languag-e 
as well as to obtain food — was one Henry Spilman,^^ who 
landing in August, 1609, was sold to the Indians, with whom 
he lived for 18 months, after which time he returned to 
England, but coming back in 161 6 was employed as an 
interpreter; " for he knew most of the kings of that country 
and spake their Languages very understandingly. " Spil- 
man (or Spelman) was tried in 161 9 by the Burgesses for 
speaking disparagingly of Governor Yeardley, and was 
killed by the Anacostan Indians in 1623, on the banks of 
the Potomac. 

Of his adventures he relates "In October, 1609, we 
sayled up ye river of Powhatan and within four or five 
day's arrived at James Towne, wher we weare joyfully 
welcomed by our countrymen, being at that time about 
80 persons under the government of Captaine Smith, the 

1* Howison, "Spelman was saved during the starving time by Pocahontas." 



112 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

President. I was carried by Captain Smith to ye Fales to 
ye litel Powhatan, where unknown to me he soulde me to 
him for a towne, called Powhatan, and leaving me with him 
(ye litel Powhatan). 

He made knowne to Captain Weste how he had bought 
a towne for them to dwell in, desiring that Captain West 
would come and settle himselfe there: But he having 
bestowed cost to begin a towne in another place misliked 
j^ * * * * With King Potowmecke I lived a year, 
at a town of his called Pasptanzie untill such time as an 
worthy gentleman named Captain Argall arrived at a towne 
called Nacottowtake: He desiring to here further of me 
cam up the river when the king of Patomecke, having sent 
me to him and I goinge agyne backe brought the Kinge to 
ye shipe when Captain Argall gave the King some copper 
for me which he receyved. Thus was I sett at libertye and 
brought into England. "^^ 

•' Brown, Genesis of America. 



BY-W 'A YS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 113 



CHAPTER IX. 

Hope Revived. Martial Law^. The Power of the 

Sword. 

vSmith left the colonv in good condition, Jamestown 
strongly fortified with palisades enclosing fifty or sixty 
houses, besides other forts and plantations sufficiently 
provisioned for some months; but the ill health of the 
president, Percy, and poor management, quickly caused 
confusion and anarchy to prevail. From a settlement of 
several htmdred persons, when Gates and Somers arrived 
in May, i5io, there survived but sixt}' and these were 
without food. For vears afterwards this was known as 
the starving time. ' 

Landing, Gates caused the church bell to be rung and all 
who were able repaired to the church, where "earnest and 
sorrowful prayer was delivered by Rev. Mr. Buck upon 
their miserable condition." The decision was made of 
abandoning the plantations: the ordnance was buried, 
a farewell volley fired and the last man stepped on board 
for the return to his native country. 

While anchored next morning off Mulberry Island, by 
a wonderful providence, they received dispatches from 
Lord Delaware, now near at hand, with three vessels and 
store of provisions. The travellers all turned back the 
same day to Jamestown. 

Delaware was the first executive officer upon whom the 
titles of governor and captain-general were bestowed, 



' Howison, Vol. I. p. 17.5. 



114 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

though they were held afterwards by all colonial chief 
magistrates. He restored order out of chaos, and by a 
wise administration of justice tempered by indulgence, 
dignity with gentleness, the colony once more began to 
assume a promising appearance. 

Many plans were made for the improvement of the town. 
The church was to be repaired, to have a chancel and com- 
munion table of black walnut, pev/s of cedar, handsome 
windows also of cedar, to open and shut; a pulpit, with a 
font hewed out hollow like a canoe; two bells at the west 
end. The church was to have a sexton and be trimmed 
with divers flowers. 

Every morning, at the ringing of the bell at ten o'clock and 
again at four in the afternoon, the people attended prayers. 
The governor was accompanied on Sundays to and from 
church by the councillors, officers, and all the gentlemen, 
with a guard in livery , handsome red cloaks, fifty on each 
side and behind. He sat in the choir, in a green velvet chair, 
"^with a cloth and velvet cushion on the table before him on 
which he knelt. ^ 

Delaware built "two Townes called Henricus and Charles 
Citty" named after the king's sons: they were in reality 
forts, on Southampton river, intended as landing places for 
settlers ariving from. England, — places at which they might 
recruit after their journey across the ocean. 

While a generous friend to the colony, the poor conditions 
were illy suited to a man of his Lordship's position and 
circumstances, — accustomed to all the state and fashion 
of court, life, — besides the climate did not agree with him; 
becoining enfeebled in health, he left for England and the 
management of the colony, for a time, again fell in the 
hands of Percy. 

2 Campbell p. 102. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 115 

The many disasters had so disheartened the company 
m London, they debated the matter of recalHng the settlers 
from Virginia, but Gates, then in England dissuaded them 
from so desperate a step. As the system of arbitrary 
government had proven inefficient, an entire change was 
now determined upon: and before the departure of Dela- 
ware, the company prepared to dispatch Sir Thomas Dale, 
with fresh supplies, empowering him to rule by martial 
law, with the title of High Marshall of Virginia. Dale had 
served as a military man, and brought over with him an 
extraordinary code of "laws divine, moral and martial" 
compiled by William Strache}", secretary of the colony, 
for Sir Thomas Smith, from the military laws observed 
during the wars in the Low Countries. These founded 
on the practice of the most rigid school then in Europe, 
were recommended by Sir Francis Bacon. 

Taking advantage of this investment, he used vigorous 
measures for setting the people to work and quelling dis- 
turbances, finding it necessary to execute eight persons 
for treasonable plots, one of whom was Jeffrey x\bbott, a 
sergeant under Capt. John Smith. 

In his memorandum of changes to be undertaken "he 
called into consultation such whom I found here, and 
there were proposed many businesses necessary, as namely 
the reparation of the falling Church and so of the Store- 
house, a stable for our horses, a munition house, a Powder 
house, a new well for the amending the most wholesome 
water which the old afforded * * * * private gar- 
dens for each man * * * * common gardens for 
hem^p, flaxe, etc., and lastly a bridge to land our goods 
upon ; for most of which I take present order and appointed ; 



116 /?r-ir.4VS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

first, for the church, Capt. Edward Brewster with his 
gang: second, for the stable, Capt. Lawson with his 
gang: third, Captain Newport undertook the bridge with 
his mariners. "-^ It was at this time that " Hee (Dale) hath 
newly strongly impaled the towne, which hath two rowes 
of houses of framed timber, some of them two stories and 
a garret higher and three large .Store-houses, joined together 
in length. " 

Searching for a site on which to build another town, 
Dale went up the river and chose for this purpose a neck 
of land, known as the peninsular,^ nearly surrounded bv a 
bend of the river. He made his settlement on the north 
side of the river and included the whole neck. Extending 
down the river for three miles to a swamp, it contained a 
tract of fertile land which produced tobacco so like that 
of Varina in Spain that it was called by that name. 

Here Sir Thomas had his house and plantation. He 
gave the town the name of Henrico in honor of the cherished 
memory of Prince Henry and from this the name of the 
county arose. "Henricus is situated upon a necke of a 
plaine rising land, three parts environed with the maine 
River; the neck of land well impaled makes it like an ile: 
It hath three streets of well framed houses, a handsome 
Church and the foundation of a better to be laid, to bee 
built of Bricke, besides Store-houses, Watch-houses and 
such like. 

" Upon the verge of the River there are five houses where- 
in live the honester sort of people, as Farmers in England 
and they keep continuall centinell for the towne's security. 



3 Brown. 

' Farrar's Island. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 117 

"About two miles from the towne into the Maine, is 
another pale neere two miles in length, from River to River, 
guarded with several Con\nianders, with a good quantity 
of corne-ground impaled, sufficiently secured to maintain 
more than I suppose will come these three years. " 

There mav still be seen the ruins of a great ditch over- 
grown with large trees, which was defended with a palisade 
to prevent surprise on that side by crossing the river. On 
the south side of the river a plantation was established 
called Hope in Faith and Coxendale, about two and a half 
miles long and secured b}' five forts called Charity fort, 
Elizabeth fort, fort Patience and Mount Malady with a 
guest house for sick people upon a high and dry situation 
and in a wholesome air, where Jackson church now stands.^ 

On the same side of the river also their preacher, the 
Rev. Alexander Whitaker, (who had accompanied Dale 
to Virginia,) chose to be seated; and he impaled a fine well- 
framed parsonage with one hundred acres of land, and 
called it Rock Hall. 

Founding towns was a favorite project of Dale's. To 
revenge some injuries by the Appomattox Indians, about 
Christmas, 1611, he took their town, near the mouth of the 
Appomattox river, by assault, and finding it convenient 
for a new settlement, — being but five miles distant from 
Henrico, — he established a plantation there, which he 
called New Bermudas, annexing to it, as a corporation, 
several adjoining plantations and bestowing on it some 
valuable privileges forever. These were Upper and Nether 
Hundred, Rock's Dale Hundred, Shirley Hundred and 
Digges Hundred. 



s Stith. 



118 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In conformity with the code of martial law each hundred 
was controled by a captain. 

Rock's Dale, enclosed by a palisade four miles in length, 
was dotted with houses along the enclosure. Here the hogs 
and cattle grazed in security for twenty miles. Nether 
Hundred was enclosed with a palisade two miles long, run- 
ning from river to river, and here within half amiile of each 
other were many neat houses built. 

About 50 miles below these settlements stood Jamestown, 
on a fertile peninsitlar, well enclosed and the town and 
neighborhood well peopled. Forty miles further down 
lay Kiquotan. 

In August, 161 1, Sir Thomas Gates had come with 5ix 
tall ships, to relieve Dale of the charge of the government. 
He brought with him 300 men and abundant supplies; 
and seconded Dale in his efforts to form settlements. Gates 
returning to England in 1614, Dale reassumed the govern- 
ment of the Colony: but having stayed in Virginia five 
years and having established good order at Jamestown, he 
now desired to return to England. 

Appointing Sir George Yeardley his deputy, he sailed 
from Virginia aboard the Treasurer in companv with 
Pocahontas and her husband Rolfe, and others. 

Rolfe wrote a " Relation of the vState of Virginia in 1616- 
161 7" in which he tells of the inhabited parts of the 
country. " The Places now inhabited and possessed are sixe 

1. Henrico and the Lymitts. Members belonging to ve 

2. Bermuda Hundred. Bermuda Towne, a place 

3. West and Shirley. so called there bv reason of 

4. James Towne. the strength of the situa- 

5. Kequoughtan. tion, were it indifferently 

6. Dale's Gift. fortified. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 119 

1. "Henrico is seated on the north side of the river 90 odd 
myles from the mouth thereof and within 15 or t6 myles 
of the falls or head of that river, (being our furthest habita- 
tion within the land). Here are 38 men and boys whereof 
22 are farmers, the rest officers and others, all of whom 
maintayne themselves with food and apparrell. Of this 
towne, one Captain Smale}^ hath the command in the 
absence of Capt. James Davis. The Rev. Wm. Wickham,. 
a member of the Council was minister there." Henrico 
was the seat of the college established for the education of 
Indian children, and also selected for the location of a 
colonial college, but the latter plan did not mature. 

2. "Bermuda Nether Hundred is seated on the south 
side of the river crossing it and going b}^ land five miles 
lower down than Henrico by water, which seate contayneth 
a good circuite of ground, the river running round, so that 
a pole running across a neck of land from one parte of the 
river to the other maketh it a peninsular. The houses 
and dwellings of the poeple are sett round about by the 
river, and all along the pale, so farr distant one from the 
other that upon anie alarme they can succor and second one 
the other." The number of inhabitants was 119. Captain 
Yeardley was in command andMr. Alex. Whitaker (drowned 
in 1 61 7) was minister there. 

3. "West and Shirley Hundred is seated on the north 
side of the river lower down than the Bermudas three or 
four myles. Capt. Isaac Madison, (who came in 1608, and 
was a surveyor and among the leading men) was in com- 
mand over 25 men (Captain Madison died in 1624). 

J. "James Towne is seated on the north side of the river 
from West and Shirley lower down about 37 myles. Lieut. 
Sharpe® in command over 50 men. Mr. Richard Buck 
was minister there. 

^ Campbell has Capt. Francis West in command. 



120 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

5. "Kequoughtan^ is seated not farr from the mouth of 
the river thirty seven myles below James Towne on the 
same side. Capt. George Webb, (captain of the Lion) in 
command and Mr. Wilham Mease (or Mays) was minister. 

6. "Dale's Gift is upon the sea, neere unto Cape Charles 
about thirty myles from Kequoughtan. Lieut. Gibbs'' 
was in command over 17 men. " 

Up to this time "there had been sent to V^irginia 1650 
persons. Dale left 205 officers and laborers, 81 farmers 
65 women, and children: in all 351 persons, a small number 
to advance so great a work. " 

Lieut. -Gov. Yeardley "a most unique character in early 
colonial history" enforced obedience from his own men 
and the respect of the savages. 

In 1 61 7 he was succeeded by Captain Argall, a rough 
seaman, accustomed to despotic sway in his own ship and 
not fit to administer the arbitrary government in Virginia 
which required firmness tempered by mildness and dis- 
cretion. 

When he arrived "hee was entertained by Captaine 
.Yearley and his companie in a martial 1 order whose right 
hand file was led by an Indian. He found but five or six 
houses, thechurch downe,thestorehouseusedforachurch " — 
doubtless the church which "being poorly constructed 
fell" and was not immediately rebuilt. "About the year 
161 2 the patentees promoted a subscription among devout 
persons in London for building churches in the Colony 
but the money was diverted to other purposes." During 
Argall 's administration a church was built at Jamestown 



• Elizabeth City Co. 

* Campbell has Lieut. Craddock in command 



Br-Tr.4 1'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 121 

"wholly at the charge of the inhabitants of that cittie, 
of Timber being fifty foote in length and twenty foote in 
breadth. " 

Argall's conduct became so outrageous, neither the colony 
nor company could bear it longer: complaints having 
reached the ears of the latter, they had gained the consent 
of Lord Delaware to return to Virginia for the deliverance 
of the colonists, when the tidings of his death was received. 
Argall was then deposed and Yeardley, who spent nearly 
;^3,ooo in furnishing himself was sent in his place. The 
office of Captain-General was conferred on him and he was 
made a member of the Council and chosen Governor for 
three years on November i8, [6i8. Granted at the 
same time twenty great shares for the transport of 26 
persons and knighted by the king at New Market six days 
after: he again sailed for America in January and arrived 
there April 19, 161 q. 



122 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER X. 

Establishment of Representative Government. 
A Governor, Unique in Character. 

The arrival of Sir George Yeardley , son of George Yeard- 
ley, Gent., " a soldier truly bred in that University of Warre, 
the Lowe Countries" was the opening of a more brilliant 
era in Virginia annals than any that had gone before. He 
added to the council Capt. Francis West, Capt. Nathaniel 
Powell, John Rolfe, William Wickham and Samuel May- 
cock with John Pory as Secretary of Virginia. Yeardley 
was empowered with plenary powers to call together the 
first General Assembly that ever met in America, and 
established the regular administration of right. 

This first legislature assembled at Jamestown on Friday 
July 30, 1 61 9, with John Pory, Speaker, and John Tw^ine, 
Clerk. Of this "first free parliamentary body" there was 
made "A report of the manner of proceeding in the General 
Assembly convented at James Cit}', in Virginia, consisting 
of the Governor, the Council of Estate and two Burgesses 
elected out of each incorporated plantation (or borough) 
and being dissolved the ist of August, next ensuing." 

A matter of great moment occurred when Sir George 
Yeardley, Knight, Governor and Captain-General of the 
colony, having sent his summons all over the country, as 
well as to invite those of the Council of Estate that were 
absent, as also for the election of Burgesses, there were 
chosen and appeared the following members of the Assem- 
bly: For James City ; Capt. William Powell, Ensign William 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 123 

Spence. For Charles City; Samuel Sharpe, Samuel 
Jordan. For the City of Henricus; Thomas Dowse (or 
Dowce), Jno. Polentine (or Potintine). For Kiccowtan 
(Kequoughtan) ; Capt. William Tucker, William Capp. 
For Martin-Brandon' (Capt. John Martin's Plantation) 
Mr. Thomas Davis, Robert Stacy. For Smythe's Hundred; 
Capt. Thomas Graves, Mr. Walter Shelley. For Martin's 
Hundred; Mr. John Boys, John Jackson. For Argall's 
Gift (Plantation) ; Mr. Paulett (or Powlett) Mr. Gourgeny. 
For Flowerdieu Hundred; Ensign Edward Rossingham 
(nephew of Governor Yeardley), Mr. John Jefferson. For 
Capt. Lawne's (or Lannis') Plantation; Capt. Christopher 
Lawne (Lannis) , Ensign Washer (or Wisher). For Capt. 
Ward's (or Wirt's) Plantation; Capt. Ward (or Wirt), 
Lieut. Gibbs. 

The Assembly met in the choir of Jamestown church; 
" Governor Yeardley being set down in his accustomed place 
those of the Council of Estate sat next hi!n on both hands 
except onl}^ the Secretary, then appointed Speaker, who 
sat before him; John Frome, Clerk of the General Assembly 
being placed next the Speaker and Thomas Pearce, the 
Sergeant, standing at the bar, to be ready for any service 
commanded him: and 'forasmuche as man's affairs do 
little prosper, where God's service is neglected, all the 
Burgesses stood in their places untill a prayer was said by 
Rev. Mr. Buck, the minister 'that it would please God to 
guide and sanctifie all our proceedings to his own glory 
and to the good of the Plantation.' Prayer being said, to 
the intent that as we had begun at God Almighty, so we 
might proceed with due respect toward his lieutenant, our 
most gracious and dread sovereign, all the Burgesses were 



124 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

instructed to retire themselves into the body of the church , 
which being done, before they were fully admitted, they 
were called to order and bv name, and so everv inan (none 
staggering at it) took the oath of supremacy and then 
enterr'd the Ass'bly. 

"The Speaker read the commission foi establishing the 
Council of State and the General Assembly, and also the 
charter brought out by Yeardley.' This last was referred 
to several committees for examination, so that if they 
should find anything ' not perfectly squaring with the state 
of the colony or anything pressing or binding too hard' 
they might by petition seek to have it redressed 'especially 
because this great charter is to bindus and our heirs forever.' " 

Objection was made to the burgesses appearing to repre- 
sent Capt. Martin's patent, because they were, by its terms, 
exe,mpted from any obligation to obey the laws of the colony . 
After inquiry these burgesses were excluded, and the 
Assemblv ' ' hum oty demanded ' ' of the Virginia Common weath 
an explanation of that clause in his patent entitling him 
to enjoy his lands as amplv as anv lord of a manor in Eng- 
land, "the least the Assembly can allege against this clause 
is, that it is obscure, and that it is a thing impossible for 
us here to know the prerogatives of all the manors in Eng- 
land . " They " prayed that the clause in the charter guaran- 
teeing equal liberties and immunities to guarantees, might 
not be violated, so as to divert out of the true course the 
free and public current of justice. " 

The first Assembly "debated all matters thought expe- 
dient for the good of the Company. " 

Owing to the heat of the weather, several of the burgesses 
fell sick and one died, and thus the governor was obliged 



' Howe, p. 40 gives Yeardley's name "Thomas" also Campbell pp. 140-3. 



BY'-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 125 

abruptly, on the foiirth of August, to prorogue the Assem- 
bly till the first of March. 

The Acts of the Assembly were transmitted to England 
for the approval of the treasurer and company : they were 
thought to be judiciously framed, but the company's 
committee found them "exceeding intricate and full of 
labor. " 

During Yeardley's government, the remaining ser- 
vants of the colony were emancipated, and their estates, 
real and personal, were confirmed " to be holden in the same 
manner as by English subjects. " Finding a great scarcity 
of corn he promoted the cultivation of it, and the vear 1619 
was remarkable for very great crops of wheat and Indian 
corn . 

A large increase was made to the population (then but 
600) of twelve hundred and sixty-one new emigrants ; 
among these ninety "agreable young women," were intro- 
duced by the good policy of Sir Edwin Sandys,- — which not 
only produced a material change in the views and feelings of 
the colonists with regard to the country, but encouraged 
them to establish homes, as married men were generally 
preferred in the selection of officers. 

During this year also were imported the first negroes 
into the colony , but as they were untamed and uninstructed, 
their arrival was not regarded as a matter of much conse- 
(juence. The condition of white servants was so abject, 
the colonists had grown accustomed to the sight of human 
beings in bondage. 

A great mortality occurred, which carried off not less than 
three hundred of the people, at this time. 

The establishment of the college in Henrico, with a liberal 
endowment, took place in i6ig by the king's exaction of 



126 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

;^ I 5,000 from the bishops, and "many devout gifts" were 
sent vohmtarily ; of these, two unknoivn persons presented 
plate and ornaments for the communion table at the college, 
and at "Mrs. Marv Robinson's Church," to which she had 
contributed ^,^200 at its founding. One subscribing him- 
self " Dtist and Ashes" (Gabriel Barber) gave £550 for the 
Christian educatioii of Indians. 

It became the pleasure of the king to command the 
company to transport to Virginia one hundred felons, who 
should be delivered to them by the knight-marshall; t1ie 
time of the year, November, being unfavorable for trans- 
portation, the company was further required to provide 
for these people till they could sail which was not till 
Februarv ; the expense of their equipment altogether 
costing ;^4,ooo. Stith remarks, on this peremptory and 
arbitrarv order "Those who know with how high a hand 
this king carried it even with his parliaments, will not be 
surprised to find him thus unmercifully insult a private 
companv and load them, against all law, with the main- 
tenance and expense of transporting such persons as he 
thought proper to banish * * * * to Virginia, which, 
originally designed for the advancement and increase of 
the colony proved a great hinderance to its growth. For 
it hath laid one of the finest countries in America under 
the vmjust scandal of being another Siberia fit only for the 
reception of malefactors * * * * This is one cause 
why our vounger sisters, the northern colonies, have out- 
stripped us so much in the number of their inhabitants, 
and in the goodness and frequency of their towns and cities. " 

Yeardley remained in offtce till November 18, 1621, when 
his commission expired. He was made then a Member of 
the Council, and remained in the colony, enjoying the 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 127 

respect and esteem of the people and when upon the death 
of Sir George Wyatt, his son, Governor Wyatt, returned 
to Ireland, — the government of Virginia again fell into the 
hands of Yeardley, which position he continued 
to hold till his death in November 1626. Not long 
before his death he sold to Abraham^ Peirsey (member of 
Council 1624-28) the lands of F'lower-dieu Hundred and 
Weyanoke. Sir George Yeardley was buried at James- 
town November 13, 1626-7. '^^^ estimate placed upon his 
character by those best acquainted with his conduct and 
who were little disposed to flatter undeservedly the living 
or the dead, is to be found in a eulogy written by ' the 
government of Virginia to the privy Council, announcing 
his death.- 

Among his biographies, Belknap has one of Sir Francis 
Wyat, who was chosen to govern Virginia in 1621: "A 
young gentleman of good family in Ireland, who was in 
every way equal to the place, on account of his education, 
fortune and integrity. He received from the company 
a set of instructions which were intended to be a permanent 
directory for the governor. In these it was recommended, 
to provide for the service of God, according to the form 
and discipline of the church of England; to administer 
justice according to the laws of England; to protect the 
natives and cultivate peace with them; to educate their 
children and to endeavor their civilization and conversion ; 
to encourage industry : to suppress gaming, intemperance 
and excess in' apparel ; to give no offence to any other 
prince, state or people; to harbor no pirates; to build 
fortifications, to cultivate corn, wine and silk; to search 

2 Howe, p. 54. 



12S 51'-n'.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

for minerals, dyes, gums and medical drugs; and to draw 
off the people from the excessive planting of tobacco." The 
civilization of the natives was a very desirable object and 
many pious and charitable people in England were interested 
in their conversion. Some few instances of the influences 
of gospel principles on the savage mind gave sanguine 
hope of success; "Of a single instance, the settlement at 
JamiCstown, — (endangered by the insurrection of 1622, 
which was instigated by Ae treachery of Opechancanough) 
through the timelv warning of a Christianized Indian, was 
preserved to the inhabitants, when other settlements were 
wiped out. 

vSir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) made a visit to 
Virginia, the fertility and advantages of which had been 
highly celebrated. In visiting the Chesapeake bay, he 
observed that the Virginians had not extended their 
plantations 'to the northward of the Potomac river, 
although the country there was equally valuable to that 
which they had planted. •'^ 

When he returned to England he applied to Charles I. 
for the grant of a territory northw.ard of the Potomac ; and 
the king readily complied with his request; but the patent 
was not completed till after the death of Lord Baltimore; 
when it was drawn in the name of his son Cecil, Lord Balti- 
more, and passed the seals June 28, 1632. 

The province of Maryland, in this patent, is described as 
that part of a peninsular in America lying' between the 
ocean on the east and Chesapeake bay on the west, and 
divided from the other part, by a right line drawn from 
Watkins Point, in the bay on the west, to the main ocean 

•' Belknap. 



BY'-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 129 

on the east. Thence to that part of Delaware bay on the 
north, which Heth, under the fortieth degree of north latitude 
from the equinoctial (where New England ends.) Thence 
in a right line, by the degree aforesaid, to the true meridian 
of the first fountains of the river Potomac. Thence follow- 
ing the course of said river to its mouth, where it falls into 
the Chesapeake bay. Thence on a right 'line across the 
bay to Watkin's Point; with all the islands and islets 
within these limits. 

The territor}^ was said to be "in the parts of America 
not yet cultivated" and should not be holden or reputed as 
part of Virginia but immediately dependant on the crown 
of England. These clauses with the construction put on 
the fortieth degree of latitude proved the ground of long and 
bitter controversies, one of which was not closed till after 
the lapse of a century. 

In i63iKing Charles had granted a license, under the 
privy seal to, William Claiborne, Councillor and Secretary 
of Virginia to trade in those parts of America, for which 
there had not been a patent granted to others and sent an 
order to the governor of Virginia to permit them freely 
to trade there. On account of which. Sir John Harvey and 
his Council, in the same year, had granted to the said 
Claiborne, a permission to sail and traffic to the "adjoining 
plantations of the Dutch or any English plantation on the 
territory of America. " 

In consequence of the license given to Claiborne, he and 
his associates had made a settlement on Kent Island, far 
within the limits of Maryland, and claimed a monopoly 
of the trade of the Chesapeake. These people, it is said 
sent Burgesses to the Legislature of Virginia and were 



130 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

considered as subject to its jurisdiction, before the estab- 
lishment of Maryland. 

Claiborne resisted the encroachments of Maryland by 
force and this caused the first controversy between the 
whites which ever took place on the waters of the Chesa- 
peake. 

Claiborne was indicted, but fled to Virginia for protection, 
when Governor Harvey sent him to England for trial. 

This occasioned the calling of an Assembly to receive 
complaints against Sir John Harvev and in 1635 Capt. 
John West was put in his place until the king's pleasure 
could be known. 

Charles regarded the treatinent of Harvey as treason- 
able and restored him to the ofifice of governor in January, 
1636, which he retained till November, 1639; when he was 
succeeded by Sir Francis Wyatt who, in his turn, was 
succeeded by Berkeley, February, 1642. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 131 



CHAPTER XL 

Forts and Fortifications. 
"The Matter of ffortification taken into consideration." 

Adopting the precautions of the natives for defence, the 
colonists paUsaded their settlements, but so slightly at 
first — with boughs of trees thrown together in a semicircle — 
the Council found it necessary to plan a fort "for fortifica- 
tion and military exercise:" this was built "triangular- 
wise having three bulwarks at every corner like a half 
rnoone. " 

The fort became not only a place of defence, but the 
residence of a small number of families, belonging to the 
same neighborhood. The stockades, bastions, cabins and 
block-house walls were furnished with port-holes at proper 
heights, and distances. The whole of the outside was made 
completely bullet-proof. In some places, less exposed 
than others, a single block-house, with a cabin or two 
constituted the whole fort. 

The families belonging to these forts were so attached 
to their cabins on their farms that they seldom moved 
into the fort in the Spring until compelled by an alarm 
which was announced by some murder that Indians were 
in the settlement. The settlers were often wakened in 
the dead of the night by an express, with a report that the 
Indians were near at hand. This express (messenger) 
came softly to the door or back-window and by a gentle 
tapping aroused the family. 

This was easily done, as habitual fear made the whites 
ever watchful to the slightest alarm. Instantly the house- 



132 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

hold was in motion: the httle ehildren and what articles 
of clothing and provision to be gotten hold of in the dark, 
were caught up, for they durst not light a candle or fire. 
All was done with the utmost dispatch and the silence of 
death — the greatest care being taken not to waken the 
youngest child; to the rest it was enough to say Indian 
and not a whisper was afterward heard. 

Thus it happened that the number of families, belonging 
to a fort who were in the evening at their homes, were all 
in the little fortress before dawn, the next morning. During 
the succeeding day, their household furniture was brought 
in by parties of the men under arms.' 

These assaults from savages occuired in those seasons 
when the weather was open and pleasant ; at the fall of 
the year when frost and cold set in, the Indians would 
vanish from sight and sound. But at the approach of the 
second summer, the period now known as Indiafi Summer, 
the savages were sure to reappear; and this delightful 
season, to which we look forward with so much pleasure, 
was anticipated then with inexpressible dread, because 
associated in the memories of the colonists with the second 
vearly inroad of the people, whose reappearance it heralded 
and from whom it derived its name. 

Some families belonging to the forts were less timid 
than others, and these after an alarm had subsided, in spite 
of every remonstrance would move back into their homes 
while their prudent neighbors remained in the fort. Such 
people, termed " fool-hardv " gave no small amotmt of 
trouble by creating frequent necessities of sending runners 
to warn them of their danger, and sometimes parties of 
men to protect them during their removal. 

The difficulty of moving was all the harder, because every 
thing had to be taken by hand, when the alarm came in 

1 Howe's Great West. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 133 

the night, for there was no possibiHty of getting a hors6 to 
aid in the transportation. An occasion has been mentioned 
when some of these intelHgent creatures, seeming to be 
fully conscious of danger, behaved as if endowed with 
human intelligence. When upon a march, having nearly 
approached a camp of Indians, who sprang towards the 
sound of hoofs moving along the road, the horses stood 
perfectly still and in the thick darkness, the savages passed 
around without being able to discover them. 

As emigration coursed westward, there ever remained 
an exposed frontier country so the necessity for establish- 
ment of forts continued and these, for manv years, provided 
the safest retreats against attacks prosecuted with the 
desire of exterminating the colonists. 

The first settlements were partly villages and partly 
fortifications but from the necessity for greater defense 
there arose more regularlv constructed forts. 

Smith mentions the undertaking of one more substan- 
tial than had been yet constructed. "There was built a fort 
for a retreat neere a convenient river, upon a high com- 
manding hill, very hard to be assaulted and easie to be 
defended, but ere it was finished, this defect caused a stay. 
In searching our casked corne, we found it half rotten and 
the rest so consumed with so many thousand of rats that 
increased so fast, but their originall was from the ships, 
as we knew not how to keep that little we had. This did 
drive us all to our wits' end for there was nothing in the 
country but what nature afforded. This want of corne 
occasioned the end of all our works, it being work sufficient 
to provide victuall. "- 

The half completed walls of an ancient stone structure, 
on Ware creek in James City county "the most curious 

2 Smith, I p. 227. 



134 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

relic of antiquity in Virginia" twenty-two miles from 
Jamestown is supposed to be the fort Smith undertook 
to erect a year or two after landing. Campbell calls it a 
diminutive fortress, of i8^ ft. by 15 ft. in size consisting of 
a basement under ground and one story above; built of 
sandstone found on the bank of the creek, without mortar; 
on one side is a doorway, six feet wide, giving entrance to 
both apartments, the walls pierced with loop-holes and 
exact masonrv. This old stone house, approached bv 




Ancient Stone Structure on Ware Creek 
a long narrow ridge, stands in a wilderness, on a high steep 
bluff, at the foot of which the creek, a tributary of York 
river, meanders,-' a natural dividing line between New 
Kent and James City counties. 

While Ratcliffe was still a member of the Council, he 
wrote, "We planted 100 men at the falls and some others 
upon a champion. I am raysing a fortification upon 
Point Comfort." He ignores the fact that Smith "dis- 
patched West with 120 men to form a settlement at the 
falls and Martin with nearlv as many more to Nanse- 
mond" at the time that he offered a fair proposition to 
Powhatan, for his place, "which he was willing to accept. " 

3 Campbell, p. 74. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 135 

The term "Old" was prefixed to the name of the point to 
distinguish it from New Point Comfort. In March, 1629, 
an act was passed, for the erection of a fort here: "Matter 
of ffortification was again taken into consideration and 
Capt. Samuel Matthews^ was content to undertake the 
raysing of a ffort at this Point; whereupon Capt. Robert 
Ffelgate, Capt. Thomas Graies, Capt. John Uty, Capt. 
Thomas Willoby, Mr. Thomas Heyrick and Lieut. William 
Perry, by full consent of the whole Assembly, were chosen 
to view the place, conclude what manner of fforte shall be 
erected and to compounde and agree with the said Capt. 
Matthews for the building, raysing and finishing the same." 

This fort, constructed of brick and shell-lime and known 
as Point Comfort Fort, w^as erected in 1632: but, in the 
course of time, underwent reconstructions and various 
changes of name. As Fort George-"^ it was rebuilt in 1727 
but this fort or series of structures, was destroyed in 
1749 by a terrible hurricane. Captain Barron, then 
commander at the fort, was living in the barracks 
of the garrison with his family and here in 1740 his dis- 
tinguished son. Commodore James Barron, was born. The 
barracks were a long row of wooden buildings with brick 
chimneys running up through the center of the roofs. 
During the hurricane the family mustered on the second 
floor with all the weighty articles they could find: this 
was supposed to have kept the houses firm on their founda- 
tions and thus preserved the inmates' lives. The fortifica- 
tions were entirely destroyed and Captain "'Barron moved 
to the upper part of Mill Creek, not far ofif. 

War being declared against the Indians, the winter of 
1674-5, it was ordered by "the grand assemblie held at 

* Captain Samuel Matthews married a daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton, had 
many servants and carried on many industries. 

* Now Fort Monroe, a stronghold of the United States government. 
'Virginia Historical Register. 



136 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

James Cittie that iii men out of Gloucester County be 
garrisoned at the ffort at or neare the ffalls of Rappahanack 
River ^ of which ffort Major Lawrence Smith is to be chiefe 
commander: This ffort to be furnished with ff our hundred 
and eighty pounds of powder, ffourteen hundred and fforty- 
three pounds of shott. " The fort was built in 1676: three 
years later, at the s\iggestion of Major Smith, he was made 
commander of a military district "provided he would 
settle at or neere the ffort by the last day of March, i68t, 
and have in readiness, upon all occasions, on beat of drum, 
flfifty able-bodied men, well armed with sufficient ammuni- 
tions, etc., and tv/o hundred men more within the space 
of a mile, along the river, and a quarter of a mile back from 
the river prepared always to march twenty miles in any 
direction from the ffort : who were to be paid at the rate 
of other souldiers in times of war and peace.'' Major 
Smith with two others of this privileged place were to 
determine ' all causes, civil or criminal, that might arise, 
as a county court might do; only these military settlers 
were to be exempt from arrest for any debt save those due 
to the king, or contracted among themselves; and free 
from taxes, save those within their own limits. 

A large part of the valley of Virginia, 150 miles 
embracing ten counties, was covered with prairies luxu- 
riant in tall grass and scattered forests filled with pea- 
vines. In 1730 Col. Robert Carter, known as A^mg Carter, 
on account of his great wealth, (vSecretary of the colony 
and a most influential man) obtained a grant of 60,000 
acres of land, running twenty miles from the forks down 
the Shenandoah river: some of the finest Warren county 
lands were here embraced. Another tract of 1300 acres 
along the same river was of the finest lands in Clarke. 

' CampbpU, p. 280, "afterwards the site of Fredericksburg." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 137 

Back creek in Berkeley county was settled very early 
by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who first arrived in 1732 
from Penns5dvania, when x6 families settled near Win- 
chester. From the same colony a second settlement was 
made in 1734 near Woodstock. ^ 

In 1738 Frederick county including all of Fairfax's grant 
west of the Blue Ridge, the luxuriant prairie district, was set 
off: "Whereas great numbers of people have settled them- 
selves of late upon the waters of Cohongorooton, Shenan- 
doah and Opecquon, whereby the strength of the colony 
and its security upon the frontiers and his majestie's 
quitrents are like to be much increased, Frederick county 
is hereby cut off from Orange." Three creeks, Opequon, 
Sleepy and Back, rising in this county, flow into the Poto- 
mac. The advantageous situation of the country made it 
easy for hostile Indians to appear and disappear, and, in 
Braddock's war the settlers were so harrassed, the greater 
part went across North Mountain and took their abode in 
Tuscarora along the Falling Waters. 

Moved b}^ the accounts of the persecutions of these 
frontier settlers, the Assembly on March, 1756, passed an 
act '"Whereas it is now judged necessary that a fort should 
be immediately erected in the town of Winchester and 
county of Frederick, for the protection of the adjacent 
inhabitants, against the barbarities daily committed by 
the French and their Indian allies, the governor of the 
colony for the time being is hereby empowered and desired 
to order a fort to be built with all possible dispatch and 
that his honor give such orders and instructions for eflEecting 
and garrisoning the same as he shall think necessary for 
the purpose aforesaid." An appropriation of ;£ 100 was 
made for carrying the provision into effect; and the fort 

8 William Henry Foote, Sketches. 



138 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

was called in honor of the British general, Lord Loudon, 
who had been appointed to the command of the troops in 
America. 

In September, i 7S2 , after the Indians had been defeated 
in their attempt to take the fort at Wheeling, they sent one 
hundred picked warriors to take Rice's Fort on Buffalo 
Creek in Ohio Countv. This fort consisted of some cabins 
and a small block-house, and in dangerous times, was the 
refuge of a few families in the neighborhood. 

The Indians surrounded the fort at night, ere they were 
discovered, and soon made an attack which continued at 
intervals until two o'clock in the morning. The savages 
would call out to the people of the fort "Give up, give up, 
too many Indian, Indian too big. No kill." The defiant 
answer to this was "Come on, you cowards; we are ready 
for you. Shew us your yellow hides and we will m.ade holes 
in them for vou. " There were only six men in the fort, 
yet such was their skill and bravery, that the Indians were 
finally obliged to retreat with a loss of a number of their 
men. 

George Felebaum was shot in the forehead through a 
port-hole at the second fire of the Indians and instantly 
expired, so that the defence of the place was really made by 
only five men, as against one hundred chosen warriors, 
exasperated to madness by their failure at Wheeling Fort. 

The names of these heroes were Jacob Miller, George 
Lefler, Peter Fullenweider, Daniel Rice, and Jacob Lefler, Jr. 

Rice's fort was in a part of the county taken from Ohio 
in L797 to form the county of Brooke, (now in the state of 
West Virginia,) which being the most northerly country, lay 
in that portion of the narrow neck of land lying between 
Pennsylvania and the Oliio River, called the Pan-handle. ^ 

" Howe's Antiquities, p. 202. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 139 



CHAPTER XII. 

Circulating Mediums of Exchange. A Poisonous 

Weed as a Legal Tender. 

Tobacco growing in the wilds of America was first dis- 
covered by the Indians and used b}^ them to intoxicate 
themselves with the smoke of it on grand occasions. 

The savages taught the white men the use of it, who, 
in turn, during the sixteenth century carried the knowledge 
to England. Tobacco was exchanged for English brandy, 
and thus the intercourse of the civilized with the uncivilized 
people began with the interchange of these poisons. 

Those who first thought of using tobacco dust (snuff) 
were first laughed at and then were more or less persecuted. 
James I. wrote against snufE-takers and tobacco smokers, 
a book called " Misoscapnos, or a Counterblast to Tobacco. " 
In this curious work he compares the smoke of tobacco to 
the smoke of the bottomless pit, and says it is only proper 
to regale the devil after dinner. "^ Belknap writes of James' 
opposition to the ctiltivation of the weed, calling it "his 
squeamish aversion to it" and gives as the reason for his 
disapprobation of the trade "his obsequiousness to the 
Spanish nation which also cultivated tobacco in the Amer- 
ican colonies and were jealous of the London Colonists." 

The use of it being introduced into England, "it spread 
like wild fire, with a vigor that outran the help of courtiers 

' International Magazine. • 



140 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

and defied the hinderance of kings. Creating a new appetite 
in human nature, it formed an important source of revenue 
to England. 2 

One of the first objects to which the industry of the 
colonists was directed was the cultivation of tobacco 
started by John Rolfe in 1612. Stith states that in 1622, 
thirty-six years after its first introduction in England 
and seven after the beginning of its cultivation in an 
English colony, the annual import amounted to 142,085 
pounds weight. 

That Elizabeth does not seem to have discouraged the 
use of tobacco is proved by the fact that she was suspected 
of using a pipe herself from time to time; and also from the 
story of a wager, with Raleigh as to whether he could deter- 
mine the exact weight of smoke which issued from his pipe, 
a problem he solved by first weighing the tobacco and 
then the ashes; paving "the wager, the queen remarked, 
that manv adventurers had turned their gold into smoke but 
he was the first to convert smoke into gold. 

When Urban VIII. excommunicated all persons who 
took sn\ift' in chiirches, Elizabeth added to that penalty 
by giving beadles authority to confiscate the snuff-boxes 
to their own use. The Turkish Vizier thrust pipes through 
the noses of smokers. 

Amuruth IV. forbade the use of snufi" under penalty of 
having the nose and ears cut off. 

In the time of Charles II. tobacco w"as used among the 
fashionables onlv in the fonn of highh'-scented snuff. 
But coffee-houses reeked vv ith the smoke from tobacco pipes 
and strangers expressed surprise that so many people 
should leave their own firesides to sit in the midst of eternal 

^Grahame. 
3 Macaulay. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 141 

"The kings of France wrote no satires, cut off no noses, 
confiscated no snuff-boxes: they sold tobacco and gave 
handsome snuff-boxes to poets, with their portraits on the 
Hds and diamonds all around." The trade of it brought 
them millions of francs, and the demand for snuff-boxes 
excited liveliness in the manufacture of novelties, the 
exhibition of which, in the department of curios, adds interest 
to museum collections at this day. Campbell gives a 
description of Raleigh's tobacco-box, (which was brought 
out when he entertained his guests with pipes, a mug of ale 
and a nutmeg) as being of cylindrical form, seven inches in 
diameter and thirteen inches long, the outside of gilt leather, 
and within, a receiver of glass or metal, which held about a 
pound of tobacco. A kind of collar connected the receiver 
with the case and on every side the box was pierced with 
holes for the pipes. "This relic was preserved in the 
museum of Ralph Thoresby, of Leeds, in 1719 and about 
1843 was added, by the late Duke of Sussex, to his collection 
of smoking utensils of all nations "^ 

This author tells that "at the time Jamestown was first 
settled, the characteristics of a man of fashion were to wear 
velvet breeches, with panes or slashes of silk, an enormous 
starched ruff, a gilt-handled sword and a Spanish dagger; 
to play at cards or dice in the chamber of the groom-porter 
and to smoke tobacco in the tilt-yard or play-house." 

In 1 610 tobacco was in general use in England and in 
1614 there were 7,000 tobacco houses in or near London. 
This of course was not through the trade with Virginia as 
there the industry started later ; the amount imported in 
1 61 9 into England from the colony , being the entire crop of 
the preceding year, was 20,000 pounds. 

< CampbeU, p. 154. 



142 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

There was chartered a "Society of Tobacco-pipe Makers 
of London" in 1620; the shield for which bore a plant in 
full blossom: (growing, this blossom is delicate both in 
fragrance and color). 

An attempt was made by the House of Commons in 1621 
to prohibit the importation of tobacco entirely, — which 
resulted in an embargo on all save from Virginia or 
Somer Isles. 

The labor of the colony became almost exclusively 
devoted to the cultivation of tobacco ; and finding a ready 
price from the extension of its use, the fields, gardens, 
public squares and even the streets of Jamestown at one 
period were planted with it. So popular an article was 
easily converted into a circulating medium: private debts, 
salaries and officers fees were paid in it and the statute 
book rarelv mentions the payment of money, that it does 
not add as an equivalent, or tobacco. 

For transportation, tobacco was packed in hogsheads 
with a wooden pin driven into each head to which were 
adjusted a pair of rude shafts and in the way of a garden- 
roller, was drawn to market by horses; the process was 
called tobacco-rolling and country roads were made for the 
convenience of this conveyance. This was the only mode 
of getting tobacco overland to market in the eighteenth 
century. ■'"' The manner of opening the hogsheads for in- 
spection gave rise to the term "tobacco breaks" now 
signifying their sales also. 

Warehouses for storing tobacco and other merchandise, 
when established in 171 2, were called rolling-houses from 
the custom of rolling the article to market before wagons 

5 Howe says that those following this business formed a class by themselves, hardy 
reckless and rude, often indulging in a coarse humor at the expense of the traveller 
who chanced to be well dressed or riding in a carriage. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 143 

came into use or navigation on the rivers improved. This 
custom prevailed for transporting tobacco generally even 
later than 1820. 

On September 21, 1827, a published notice warned 
tobacco planters that a petition would be presented at the 
next session of the Legislature, praying that the Inspectors 
of all Public Warehouses should be required, in inspect- 
ing tobacco, to break it in four different parts of each hogs- 
head in order to detect the many impositions practiced in 
prizing; and that certain warehouses where such frauds 
were connived at and where inspectors refused to break 
tobacco in such places as they were desired to do by the 
purchasers, might be suppressed. 



In the early days of the colony, money could purchase 
nothing, therefore no real money was used. Between the 
whites and Indians exchange was mere barter, and among 
themselves the natives trafficked with a kind of shell money, 
they called Roenoke or Rawrenoke. " 

Needing food above all else, the English supplied them- 
selves with such commodities for exchange as would be 
likely to tempt the taste of those with whom they had to 
negotiate. Beads for a time served their purpose and by 
mancevering on Smith's part, a scale of values was estab- 
lished for certain varieties of beads, those of a blue color 
being in great demand. Then copper became the legal 
tender: the Indian chief was paid a " proportion of copper" 

* Shell money is found to have been used in other parts of the world; a species 
called Kowry shells was used in Bengal. This was so exceedingly small in value 
that about 2,400 of them were equal to one shilling, yet notwithstanding the small- 
ness of the denomination, some article in the market could be purchased for a singel 
Kowrj'. ^ 



144 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

for his Powhatan town^ and for betraying Pocahontas into 
Argall's hands, lapazaws was paid a copper kettle. When 
the Indians gained a knowledge of the use of firearms they 
gladlv bartered their corn and furs for such wonderful 
implements of destruction, and "fire-water" became later 
their comfort and curse. 

The colonists having entered upon the cultivation of 
tobacco, that grew to be an article of export in great demand, 
all trading vessels came for tobacco; it would buy every- 
thing and was as much a thing of universal desire, as money 
was in other countries, hence the standard of value and 
circulating medium. 

When money first began to be introduced, as the keeping 
of accounts in tobacco was inconvenient to foreign mer- 
chants who came to trade, an act was passed with the pre- 
amble "Whereas it hath been the usual custom of mer- 
chants and others dealing intermuttially in this colony to 
make all bargains, contracts and to keep all accounts in 
tobacco and not in m'oney, it shall be enacted that in future, 
they shall be kept in money , and in all pleas and actions 
the value shall be represented in money. " 

It was found so inconvenient to represent value by an 
arbitrary standard, the representative of which did not 
exist in the colony, an act was passed in 1641 repealing this, 
"Whereas many and great inconveniences do daily arise 
by dealing for money. Be it enacted that all money-debts 
made since the 26th of March, 1642, shall not be pleadable 
or recoverable in any court of justice under this govern- 
ment. " 



' Powhatan also agreed to give one bushel of corn for one square inch of copper, 
•Stith. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 14o 

An exception was made in 1642-3 in favor of debts con- 
tracted for horses or sheep, but money- debts were not 
recoverable again until 1656. 

Twice a year, at a general meeting of the merchants and 
factors in Williamsburg, they settled the price of tobacco, 
the advances on the sterling cost of goods and the rate of 
exchange with England. ' t r. 

Having resorted to the primitiye practice of making 
current an article convenient of access, — and this article, 
tobacco, now being the recognized medium of exchange, 
in universal demand, — there developed the necessity for 
guarding against excess in its production, and any use of 
tobacco of inferior quality. These causes would affect 
commerce as injuriously as a superabundance of bank paper 
or an influx of spurious coin. 

Governor Spotswood was the author of »an act for im- 
proving the staple of tobacco and making tobacco notes 
the medium of ordinary circulation. These notes were made 
current within the county or adjacent county and were 
still in use at the beginning of the nineteenth century.** 

Salaries were paid in tobacco or notes representing it, 
which were sometimes in denominations as low as six 
shillings current money. ^ 

For a day's attendance at court^° the allowance was 25 
pounds of tobacco. 



Till the reign of Charles II, English coin had been struck 
by a process as old as the thirteenth century. Edward I. 
had invited thither skilled artists from Florence. During 



^Howison I, p. 275. 
'Hening IV. p. 32, 91. 
'"County Court Records. 



14G BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

many generations, the instruments, then introduced into 
the mint, continued to be employed with Httle alteration. 

The metal was divided with shears and afterwards shaped 
and stamped by the hammer; in these operations much 
was left to the hand and eye of the workmen. It happened 
that some pieces contained a little more and some a little 
less than the just quantity of silver; few pieces were 
exactly round and the rims were not marked. 

In the course of years it was discovered that to clip" the 
coin was the easiest and most profitable kind of fraud. 

During Elizabeth's reign it had been thought necessary 
to enact that the clipper be, as the forger had been, liable 
to the penalty of high treason. But the practice of paring 
down was too lucrative to be so checked and at the time 
of the Restoration, it began to be observed that a large 
proportion of crowns, half-crowns and shillings had under- 
gone mutilation. This was a time fruitful of experiments 
and inventions in all departments of science. 

A mil), which to a great extent superseded hand work 
was set up in the Tower of London: it was worked by 
horses and would be considered by modern engineers, as a 
rude and feeble machine. The pieces produced were among 
the best in Europe; it was not easy to counterfeit them, 
as their edges were exactly circular and were inscribed 
with a legend, therefore clipping was not to be feared. 
Hammered coins and milled coins, current together, were 
received without distinction in all payments. A clipped 
coin on English ground, went as far as a milled one, but 
across the Channel the milled crown became much more 
valuable, so the inferior pieces remained in the only market 

" In 1619 Sir Lewis Stukly, who in 1618 betrayed his cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, was 
found to have been for many years engaged in the nefarious occupation of clipping 
coins.— Keith, p. 173. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 147 

where they would fetch the same as the superior, and fresh 
milled money, disappeared as fast as it appeared, in foreign 
markets. 

The shears of the clippers were constantly at work and 
forgers multiplied and prospered. At first the evil was 
disregarded, then it seemed impossible to find a remedy. 
Clippers amassed fortunes and, when capital punishment 
became the penalty, one of these felons was able to offer 
;£6,ooo for a pardon. 

It became a mere chance whether a shilling, so called, 
was ten pence, six pence or a groat. Various experiments 
or remedies were tried. One projector urged assimilating 
their coin to that of neighboring nations, and among these 
was a proposition for coining dollars. Finally it was 
resolved that the money should all be recoined, according 
to the old standard of weight and fineness, and a period 
was fixed after which no clipped money would be allowed 
to pass. ^- 

In the first year of the reign of Queen Anne, the Assembly 
passed an act "for regulating and settling the current rates 
of gold coin and of British silver coin in this dominion." 
The gold coin of the empire was made current at the rate 
of five shillings the penny -weight. 

When Beverley was revising his history for the second 
edition he reported that the "Coin which chiefly they have 
among them is either Gold of the Stamp of Arabia; or 
Silver or Gold of the Stamp of France, Portugal or the 
Spanish America. 

"Spanish, French or Portuguese coin'd Silver is settled 
by Law at three Pence, three Farthings the Peny -weight. 

English Guineas at twenty-six Shillings each and the 
Silver two Pence in every Shilling advance. 

'■•"Macaulay, 



148 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

English old Coin goes by Weight as the other Gold and 
Silver. " 

A table of coins circulating in 1747 gives the following 
values : 

£. s. d. 

Spanish double doubloons 3 10 00 

Doubloons (equal to $7 . 20) j 15 00 

Pistole (equal to $3 . 60) o 17 00 

Arabian Chequin o 10 00 

Pieces of eight o 5 00 

French crowns o 5 00 

Dutch dollars o 5 00 

All English coins at the same value as in England. 

In 1762 it was found that the gold coin in the dominion 
was worse than the Spanish doubloons at least fifteen per 
cent, and as itmightbeofdangerousconsequenccstothetrade 
and currency of the colony to permit so base a coin to pass 
in payment at the same rate with other gold of more in- 
trinsical vahie — for settling the same it was enacted "that 
from the passing of this act all the gold coin of the German 
empire shall be current within his Majesty's Colony and 
dominion in all payments except his Majest3^'s quitrents at 
the rate of four shillings, three pence the penny -weight and 
no more. "^^ 

The question of money was causing some discussion in 
the colony and among the Dinwiddle papers there is the 
following letxer from Governor Dinwiddle to the Earl of 
Halifax^^ on the subject. 

i^Hening. 

13 The Right Honourable George Duiik, the Lord Conunissioner for Trade and 
Plantation at that time. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 149 

"Feb'y 24th, 1750. In my L's to the Board Ihaveven- 
tur'd to propose a coin'g Money at Home, to be appropriated 
for the Paym't of all the Officers in America, Civil and 
Military. 

Thii Proposal is on a former Plan; I some Years since 
laid before Y'r L'd'ps for Trade w'ch y'n appear'd to them 
right and if it had been put in practice in the large Sums 
lately sent over to the Cont't of America, the Crown w'd 
have sav'd a great deal of Mo.(ney). 

The Merch'ts probably may compl'n of y's Currency 
but I formerly propos'd to evade y'r Compl'ts 3^'t if ret'd 
by way of Remittances the Bank receive it as Cash and it 
w'd serve to send out again the succeed'g Year. By \^'s 
Method they would be under no Hardships on receiv'g it 
in the Plantat's as it w'd be the same to them as Spanish 
or Portugal Mo.(ne3^) and Mo.(ney) coined in France, has 
been curr't among y'e islands and the British islands above 
these thirty Years and the Crown of France has gain'd 
considerably by y's Curr'cy as it is not equal to Ster. by 
i2iP ct. " , 

A coin circulated in the colony of copper metal, about 
the size of a half-penny (English) and without milling around 
the edge, has embossed on one side the head of the king 
with his name "Georgius III Rex" and on the other a 
shield with the quarterings of England, Scotland, Ireland 
and Virginia: The whole design surmounted by a crown 
and encircled with the legend "Virginia 1773-" 

In 1775 an issue of Treasury Notes was ordered, 50,000 
of the denomination of one shilling and three pence ; signed 
by John Pendleton.''' 

n Court Records. 



150 



SF-n'.4y5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



There are extant several specimens of the currency of 
1775, in Virginia notes ;^ I (18 by 21 cm.) and £2, (17. 5x 
12 cm.) No. ^227 Signed by Phil. Johnson and John Taze- 
well. '^ 

The "First Paper Money stamped in Virginia or owned 
by the State" is printed only on one side and this printing 
announces that it is one-third of a Spanish milled dollar 
or value in gold, or silver to be given in exchange for this 
bill at the treasury of Virginia pursuant to an act of the 
Assembly passed October 5, 1778. On the left side of the 
note is the coat of arms of Virginia, while around the 
border, are the words above quoted in large capitals, the 
letters being interlaced in each other. The note was 
printed from the first stamp that was ever brought into 
the state. 





Obverse 



Reverse 



Virginia Coin of 1773 
(enlarged) 



1* state Library 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 151 

FOUR VIRGINIA COINS. 

1. Silver Shilling of 1774: design, nude bust of George 
in. Laureated. Reverse, British coat of arms on gar- 
nished shield, with crown above. Legend "Virginia 1774." 

2. Virginia Penny, of copper, same type as shilling. 
Dentated border; date 1773. 

3. Virginia half-pence, 1773 — same type but differing 
dies; varying sizes. 

4. Shilling; view of Gloucester Court-house: XII below: 

Gloucester Co. ( ) Virginia. Reverse, a large star 

if Ric Dawson, Anno Dom. 1714. 



152 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Early Colonial Dames. 

Few women had ventured to cross the Atlantic, because 
the colonists did not propose to reside here permanently. 
In order to add to their interest in the settlement, through 
the comforts and connections of home ties, it was deter- 
mined to send a number of voung w^omen as wives to the 
settlers. 

There had come with Newport in 1608, Capt. Peter 
Wynne and Captain Waldo, two valiant soldiers and valiant 
gentlemen; Francis West, brother of Lord De la Warr; 
Raleigh Crashaw; Thomas Forest with Mrs. Forest and 
Anne Burras, her maid (whose marriage was the first 
solemnized); these two last named were the first English- 
women who landed at Jamestown. 

In June, 1609, women as well as men enlisted under the 
Treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, at his house in London: 
and the Blessing, a vessel commanded by Capt. Adams 
June- 2, 1609, carried twenty women and children as well 
as men: "a few women came in 1609 with de la Warr." 

In 161 1 when Sir Thomas Gates left England there were 
among the passengers twenty women. 

A fleet sent out by the Virginia Company brought over 
in 1 61 9 more than 1,2 00 settlers: of these eighty were to 
be tenants for the governor's land; 130 for the company's 
land; 100 for the college; 50 for the glebe; 90 young 
women of good character for wives ; 50 servants; 50 whose 
labors were to support thirty Indian children ; the rest 
to be distributed among private plantations. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 153 

During the next year sixty more women were sent as 
wives for settlers. "This produced a great accession of 
happiness to the colony and the subject of their disposal 
was held to import its own dignity and was allowed to take 
jjrecedence of all other engagements. " 

A letter^ accompanying a shipment of marriageable 
females, sent out from England to Virginia, "London, 
August 21, 1621," explains more fully the manner of con- 
ducting the transaction: "We send you a shipment, one 
widow and eleven maids, for wives of the people of Virginia. 
There hath been especial care had in the choice of them, 
for there hath not one of them been received but upon good 
commendations. 

"In case they can not be presently married, we desire 
that they may be put with several householders, that have 
wives, until they can be provided with husbands. There 
are nearly fifty more that are shortly to come, and are sent 
by our honorable lord and treasurer, the Earl of Southamp- 
ton, and certain worthy gentlemen, who taking into con- 
sideration that the plantation can never flourish till families 
be planted, and the respect of wives and children for their 
people on the soil, therefore having given this fair beginning, 
reimbursing of whose charges it is ordered that every man 
that marries them give 120 pounds of best leaf tobacco for 
each of them, we desire that the marriage be free, according 
to nature, and we would not have those maids deceived 
and married to servants, but only to such freemen or 
tenants as have means to maintain them. We pray you, 
therefore, to be fathers of, them in this business, not 
enforcing them to marry against their wills. " 

1 Cited by Campbell, note p. 147-8, (Hubbard's note in Belknap). 



154 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

The custom of marr^^ing young was long observed, both 
female and male being still in early youth. The practice 
also of celebrating the marriage in the home of the bride 
was generally observed and she had the choice of the 
priest, (in the later years of the colony when there was 
opportunity of choice) to perform the ceremony. 

A wedding engaged the attention of the whole neighbor- 
hood. There was enacted a law requiring the keeping of 
parish registers by the minister solemnizing rites, and also 
requiring his return of the registration to Williamsburg, 
when that became the capital. 

A marriage bond of 1750 reads " Know all men by these 

presents that we — and 

(groom, and guardian) are held and firmly bound to our 
Sovereign Lord, the King — in the sum of ;^5o current money 
to the payment of which well and truly to be made to our 
sd lord, the king, his heirs and successors, we bind ourselves 
our heirs, ye firmly by these presents, sealed and dated 

this day of . The condition of the 

obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage intended 

to be had and solemnized between the above 

and (contracting parties) : If therefore 

there be no lawfull cause to obstruct the same then the 
above obligation to be void. Otherwise to remain in full 
force and virtue. " 

Marriage notices in the eighteenth century were accom- 
panied by "a few poetic lines; one describing the young 
lady," whose amiable sweetness of disposition joined with 
the finest intellectual accomplishments, can not fail of 
rendering the worthy man of her choice complete^ happy, " 
adds a lengthy poem beginning, 

' ' Fain would the aspiring muse attempt to sing 
The virtues of this amiable pair, etc. " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 155 

To another couple, 

" Her's the mild lustre of the blooming mom, 
And his the radiance of the rising day, 
Long may the}^ live and mutually possess 
A steady love and genuine happiness. " 

A third notice which mentions that the bride "is a very 
agreable young lady ; " tells that 

■ ' Here no sordid interest binds 
But purest innocence and love 
Combined unite their spotless minds 
And seal their vows above. " 

To the fourth notice is added the wish, 

"May peace and love the sacred band unite and equal joy, 
yield equal sweet content." 

In 1783 laymen were licensed to solemnize marriage rites. 

The custom of the time kept woman in the retirement 
of home life, — the guardian and dispenser of household 
comforts and gracious hostess. The glimpses^ we get of her 
are as marginal sketches of ornamentation. To be sure 
"Mrs. Proctor, a proper civil, modest gentlewoman" 
defended herself and family for a month after the massacre : 
"Lady Temperance Yeardley came on November 16, 1627, 
to a court held at Jamestown and confirmed the convey- 
ance made by her late husband, Sir George Yeardley, 
Knt, late governor, to Abraham Percy, Esq., for the lands 
of Flower dieu Hundred being 1,000 acres and of We^-anoke 
on the opposite side of water, being 2,200 acres. " During 
Bacon's Rebellion, that commander adopted the stratagem 
of capturing the wives of several of the principal loyalists 
then with the governor, among them "the lady of Colonel 

2 Such as "Sir Thos. Gates in 1610 sent his daughters back to England;" thus 
arousing curiosity about thpir visit to .Vmerica. 




BRASS MOULDS FOR PEWTER SPOONS 

Many of the relies of the past reveal to us inventions which necessity brought into 
use: and among the most interesting are the old brass spoonmoiilds for making 
pewter spoons. The illustration here given represents the size for table spoons, and 
was often called into use in the making of bridal presents. Moulding required the 
exertions of two people and precautions against burnt fingers; the moulds being 
held by one person while the heated metal was poured by another through the small 
aperture at the end of the spoon's bowl. When cooled the moulds were opened by 
handling projections on either side of the moulds (outwards) and forced apart. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 157 

Bacon, Sr., Dame Bray, Dame Page and Dame Ballard," 
sending word to their husbands in Jamestown that his 
purpose was to place their wives in front of his men. in case 
of a rally: for which Colonel Ludwell reproached the 
rebels with "ravishing of women from their homes and 
hunting them about the country in their rude camps."'' 
Another account tells that Bacon's stratagem was to make 
use of the ladies in order to complete his battery .4 

Dame Berkele}^ had a very varied career; the widow of 
one Samuel Stephens, when she married Governor Berkeley, 
after his death, having been bequeathed his whole estate, 
she "enriched her third husband, Col. Philip Ludwell of 
Rich Neck, but still retained the title of Dame (or Lady) 
Francis Berkeley." While the widow Berkeley, she was 
sued by Col. "William Drummond's widow for trespass, in 
taking from her land a quantity of corn; and in spite of a 
strenuous defence, a verdict was rendered against her. 
The plaintiff was Dame Sarah Drummond, the patriot 
heroine, "no less enthusiastic in Bacon's favor than her 
husband. " Lady Spotswood appears in her enchanted 
castle at Germanna, and as the promised bride of the Rev. 
John Thompson, after Governor Spotswood's death, and in 
the correspondence requesting her release from a promise 
of marriage. Evetyn B3a-d's great beauty made her the 
toast of the colony. The wife of George Washington be- 
came notable as "first lady of the land." Antedating her 
was the Revolutionary heroine, a personification of self- 
sacrificing, patriotic femininity metamorphosed from the 
stately figure of Colonial balls. Taken together the}^ may 
assist in projecting a mental type of Colonial Dame "of 
ye olden time." 

» Campbell. 

* "Bacon was assisted by the conspicuous white aprons of the ladies." 




Evelyn Byrd 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 159 



CHAPTER XIV. 
A Cavalier of the Old School. 

"When Parliament reassembled in October, 1641, after 
a short recess, two hostile parties appeared confronting 
each other, who for some years were designated as Cavaliers 
and Roundheads; but were essentially the same as those 
subsequently called Tories and Whigs, ^ — rival confederacies 
of statesmen, one zealous for authorit}' and antiquity, the 
other zealous for liberty and progress. "^ 

Charles I. appointed in 1641, to the direction of affairs 
in Virginia, William Berkeley, a gentleman of rank and 
ability, upright and honorable character ; manners, dignified 
and engaging; but above all else a cavalier of the most 
rigid and approved school, who loved the monarchial 
constitution of England, venerated her customs, church, 
everything peculiar to her as a kingdom, and enforced 
conformity to her institutions with uncompromising 
sternness. 

1 "In the year 1679 were first heard two nick names, originally given in insult, but 
soon assumed with pride; one of Scotch, the other, Irish origin. In Scotland some 
of the persecuted Covenanters, driven mad by oppression, had taken arms against 
the government; these zealots were most numerous among the rustics of the west- 
ern lowlands, who were vulgarly called Whigs; the name of Whig was thus fastened 
on the Presbyterian zealots of Scotland and transferred to English politicians 
who showed a disposition to oppose the court and to treat with indulgence Protes- 
tant Non-Conformists. 

2 Macaulay I, p. 29. "The bogs of Ireland, at the same time afforded a refuge to 
popish outlaws, much resembling those afterwards known as Whiteboys. Those 
men were then called Tories; the name of Tory was therefore given to English- 
men who refused to . concur in excluding a Roman Catholic prince from the 
throne." — Ibid I, p. 76. 



160 5r-IF.4y5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

The new governor was instructed to restore the Colonial 
Assembly and to invite it to enact a body of laws for the 
province and to improve the administration of justice by 
adopting the most salutary customs of the English realm. 
Thus was restored to the colonists the system of govern- 
ment, which they had originally derived from the Virginia 
Company. Universal gratitude was excited by this signal 
change.^ 

Berkeley's commission secured to England the exclusive 
possession of the colonial trade, and he was instructed to 
prohibit all commerce with other nations, a bond being 
required from the master of every vessel sailing from 
Virginia, obliging him to land his cargo in some part of the 
king's dominions in Europe. 

The new governor arrived in February, 1642 : the Assem- 
bly met in April following. Many important matters were 
settled at this meeting, the principal of which was the 
declaration against the restoration of the Virginia Com- 
pany, (proposed by Sir George Sandys) which the colonists 
considered had been the source of intolerable calamities by 
its illegal proceedings, barbarous punishments and monopo- 
lizing policy. • 

Other matters decided were the abolishment of the tax 
for the benefit of the governor; and of punishment by 
condemnation to temporary service, which had existed 
ever since the foundation of the colonv : this protection to 
liberty was considered so important that they declared it 
was to be considered as a record by the inhabitants of their 
birthright as Englishmen. Better regulations were pre- 
scribed for discussing and deciding land titles, and the 
bounds of parishes were more accurately marked. Taxes 

3 Grahame, I, 96. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 161 

were proportioned to men's estates and abilities more than 
to numbers, bv which the poor were much reheved. 

At a court held at James City, June 29, 1642, there were 
present. Sir William Berkeley, knight, governor, etc., 
Capt. John West, Mr. Richard Kemp, Capt. William Brocas, 
Capt. Christopher Wormlev, Capt. Humphrey Higginson. 
Two years later Sir William left Virginia for England and 
the Council elected Richard Kemp to occupy his post: after 
a year's absence the governor returned to take charge of the 
government. The colony at this time was in a prosperous 
condition, having acquired the management of its concerns, 
possessing security and quiet, abundance of land and a 
free market for their commodities. They were attached 
to the cause of Charles, because they cherished the liberties 
of which he left them in the undisturbed possession. When 
his authority was overthrown in the civil war, and he, a 
prisoner was convicted by the revolutionary tribunal, 
created to judge -him, — "as a tyrant, a traitor, a murderer 
and a public emeny, his head severed from his 
shoulders, before thousands of spectators, in front of the 
banquetting-hall of his own palace" and his son driven 
out of the kingdom, — the colonists acknowledged the fugi- 
tive prince as their sovereign and conducted their govern- 
ment under a commission which he transmitted to Berkeley 
from his retreat in Breda. 

The sentiment of one part of the colony is shewn in an 
old record in Accomacke County: in a "Proclamation by 
the Comander's and Commission's of Accomacke, Mense 
Decemb. Ano. 164',." "Whereas it hath pleased Almighty 
God to suffer us to bee deprived of our late dread Sovraigne, 
of blessed memor\^e, wee, the Comandr and Comissionrs 
of Accomacke doe by these pr'sents p'clayme Charles, the 



162 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

undoubted heyre of our late sovraigne of blessed inemor\^e 
to bee King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, Virginia 
and all other remote provinces and collonys, New England 
and the Caribda Islands and all other Hereditaments and 
Indowments belonging to our late Sovraigne of blessed 
memorye willing and requiring all his Ma'ties Leiges to 
acknowledge their allegiance and with gen'rall consent and 
applause pray God to bless Charles the Second, King of 
England, Scotland, Ireland, Virginia, New England, ye 
Caribda Island and all other provinces and subjects to the 
English Crowne; and soe God save King Charles the 
Second. Amen. Amen. Amen." " Recordat priino die 
Meuse Ffebruar i64g. (Sine) Edw: Matthews, Cler, Cur." 

But the Parliament did not long permit its aiithority 
to be denied. Under the operation of the Solemn League 
and Covenant there were "other instruments chosen for 
carrying on the work" causing "the forced deviation from 
his Majesty's obedience. " 

Of the Surrender of Virginia in 1651, Beverley says "at 
last the King was traitorously beheaded in England and 
Oliver installed Protector. However this authority was 
not acknowledged in Virginia for several years after, till 
they were forced to it by the last necessity. For in the 
year 1651, b}- Cromwell's command, Captain Dennis, with 
a squadron of men of war, arrived there from the Caribbee 
Islands, where they had been subduing Barbadoes. The 
country at first held out vigorously against him; and Sir 
William Berkeley, by the assistance of such Dutch vessels 
as were, then there, made a brave resistance. But at last 
Dennis contrived a strategem, which betrayed the country. 
He had got a considerable parcel of goods aboard, which 
belonged to two of the Council, and formed a method of 



B Y-WA YS OF VIRGINIA HISTOR Y 1 63 

informing them of it. By this means they were reduced 
to the dilemma either of submitting or losing their goods. 
This occasioned factions among them; so that at last, 
after the surrender of all the other English plantations, 
Sir William was forced to submit to the Usurper on the 
terms of a general pardon. However it ought to be remem- 
bered to his praise, and to the immortal honor of that 
Colony, that it was the last of all the king's dominions that 
submitted to the usurpation and afterwards the first that 
cast it off, and Berkeley never took any post or office under 
the Usurper. " 

In September, 1651, the Council of State, under Cromwell, 
issued instructions to Capt. Robert Dennis, Mr. Richard 
Bennett, Mr. Thomas Steg and Capt William Clayborne, 
Commissioners, for the reducement of Virginia and the 
inhabitants thereof to their due obedience to the Com- 
monwealth of Virginia, or Capt. Edmund Curtis to serve 
in place of Dennis. 

The articles of surrender between the Commissioners 
of the Commonwealth, and the Council of State and Grand 
Assembly of Virginia, secured: 

1. That this should be considered a voluntary act, the 
colonists to enjoy freedom and privileges of freeborn people 
of England * * * * 

2. That the Grand Assembly as formerly should convene 
and transact the affairs of Virginia. ***** 

3. That there should be a full and total remission of all 
acts, words or writings against Parliament. 

4. That Virginia should have her ancient bounds and 
limits, and new charter to that effect. 

5. That all patents of land under the seal of the colony, 
granted by the governor, remain in full force. 



164 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

6. That the privilege of 50 acres of land for every person 
emigrating to the colony, remain in force. 

7. That the people of Virginia have free trade, as the 
people in England enjoy * * * * 

8. That Virginia should be free from all taxes * * * 
without consent of their Grand Assembly ; and no forts or 
castles be erected or garrison maintained without their 
consent. 

9. That no charge should be required on account of 
expense of present fleet. 

10. That this agreement be tendered to all persons, those 
refusing to sign have a year's time to remove themselves 
and effects from Virginia, etc. A supplemental treaty 
followed for benefit of the governor, council and soldiers, 
who had served against the Commonwealth, on favorable 
terms.4 

These articles secured every privilege which could have 
been asked, and thus matters were amicably adjusted. 
Berkele)^ was too loyal a subject to be willing to accept 
office under Parlianient. Without leaving Virginia he 
withdrew to a retired situation, where he continued to 
reside till the restoration of royalty placed him again, by 
the election of the people, at the head of the colonial 
government. 

THE ACT FOR INDEMNITIE, 

made at the Surrender of the Country,'' provided that 
"Whereas by the authority of the parliament of England, 
wee, the commissioners appointed by the Council of State 
authorized thereto, having brought a fieete and force before 
James Cittie in Virginia to reduce that collonie under the 

* Howe's Miscellanies. 
^Hening's Statute.s I, 363. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 165 

obedience of the commonwealth of England and finding 
force raised by the Government- and country to make 
opposition against the said flfleet, whereby assured danger 
appearinge of the ruine and destruction of the plantation, 
for prevention whereof the Burgesses of all the severall 
plantations being called and in said contemplation of the 
great miseries and certaine destruction, which were soe 
nearly hovering over the whole country, Wee, the sd comm'rs 
have thought fitt and condescended and granted to 
signe and confirme under our hands, seals and by our oath, 
Articles, bearinge date with theise presents, And do further 
declare. That accord'ng to the articles in generall. Wee have- 
granted an act of indemnitie and oblivion, to all the inhab- 
itants of this colloney, from all words, actions or writings 
that have been spoken acted or writt against the parliament 
or commonwealth of England or any other person from the 
beginninge of the world to this daye, And this wee have 
done. That all the inhabitants of the collonie may live 
quietly and securely under the commonwealth of England. 
And wee do promise that the parliament and Commonwealth 
of England shall confirme and make good all those trans- 
actions of ours. 

Witness our hands and scales this 12th day of March, 
1651 : 

RICHARD BENNETT, [Scale] 
WM. CLAIBORNE, [Scale] . 
EDM. CURTIS, [Seale]« 

Both Comm'r Bennett and Comm'r Clayborne, formerly 
in Virginia, had been forced to fly, being in sympathy with 
Roundhead's. Clayborne's office as treasurer, forfeited 
by his leaving, was then bestow,ed on Colonel JNforwood by 

"Hening, Vol. I, 372. 



166 Br-ir.4r5 of virgixia history 

the fugitive Charles. Now on April 30, 1652, Bennett and 
Clayborne, with the Virginia Burgesses, organized a pro- 
visional government under the Com 'wealth. Bennett had 
been of the Council in 1646: he was at this time made 
Governor with Clayborne as Secretary of State, both of 
whom with the Council, appointed, were to have such 
power to act as should be granted by the grand Assembly, 

In his "Convention of 1776,"' Grigsby, states that 
Richard Henry Lee's grandfather was an active accomplice 
of Berkeley. This is confirmed from the "Life and Corres- 
pondence of Rd. H. Lee" by his grandson of the same 
name: "During the civil war between Charles L and the 
Parliament, Richard (the great grandfather of Richard 
Henry Lee) and Sir William Berkeley, being royalists, 
kept the colony to its allegiance so that after the king's 
death, Cromwell sent ships of war and troops to reduce it. 
Berkeley and Lee not being able to resist this force, yet 
refusing allegiance to Cromwell, brought the Commander 
of the squadron to a treaty in which Virginia was styled 
an independent dominion. 

"While Charles IL was at Breda in Flanders, Lee hired a 
Dutch ship and went over to the king to know whether he 
could protect the colony if it returned in allegiance to him, 
b^it finding no support could be obtained, he returned to 
Virginia and kept quiet till after the death of Cromwell. " 

Governor Bennett and Council were allowed seats in the 
Assembly, which was now represented by twelve counties; 
the next year by fourteen, Henrico, Charles City, James 
City, Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Lower Norfolk, Elizabeth 
City, Warwick, York, Northampton, Northumberland, 
Gloucester, Lancaster and Surry. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 167 

Bennett was succeeded in 1655 by Edward Digges, (of 
the Council in 1O54) of an ancient and distinguished family. 

In 1656 Samuel Matthews,'' now returned from England, 
(where he was Virginia's agent in the controversy with 
Lord Baltimore, respecting the disputed boundary between 
Maryland and Virginia) was elected by the Assembly to 
succeed Digges. When the laws were revised this year 
letters, superscribed " For the Public Service" were ordered 
to be conveyed from one plantation to another to the place 
of destination. 

Matthews held the office of governor till his death in 
January, 1659. In the following April Richard Cromwell, 
resigning the Protectorate, left England without a monarch. 
The Virginia Assembly therefore declared the government 
of the colony should rest in that body. 

The news of the restoration of Charles II was hailed with 
demonstrations of delight by the Virginians, and his gracious 
expressions of good will excited vain hopes of favor. 

Virginia at this time enjoyed freedom of commerce with 
the whole world; she had herself established nearly an 
independent democracy: prosperity had advanced till the 
people indulged in dreams of infinite wealth. 

As soon as Charles was seated on the throne, a duty of 
five per cent on all merchandise, exported from or imported 
into the dominion was voted, and at the same time there 
was produced the Navigation Act, that all commodities 
imported into any British settlement or exported from it 
must be in English built vessels, the masters and crews of 
which should be English subjects ; that the colonists could 

7 "Worthy Samuel Matthews, an old planter, of nearly forty years standing, — a 
most deserving Commonwealth's man, who kept a good house, lived bravely and 
was a true lover of Virginia." 



168 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

only ship their merchantable stuff to England, the 
restricted articles being called enumerated commodiiies. 

The larger commerce and pre-eminent loyaltv of the 
Virginians rendered these enactments particularly exasper- 
ating and the colony remonstrated against the grievance 
asking relief. But a deaf ear was turned to their petition 
and micasures were adopted for executing the act and over- 
coming resistance by the erection of forts upon the principal 
rivers and the appointment of vessels to cruise on the coast. 

Tn retaliation a colonial law was enacted that country 
creditors should have priority and the colonial courts gave 
precedence to contracts made in the colony. The growth 
of tobacco was to be restrained and new staples introduced, 
as the planting of mulberries, for the experimenting in 
the manufacture of silk. 

Other causes concurred to inflame outraged loyalty. 
While defending their lives and property from the attacks 
from Indians in the interior, the security of that property 
became endangered by large grants the king bestowed upon 
his favorites. 

Sir William continued as governor till April 30, 1661, 
when he was sent to England, as agent to defend the colony 
against the monopoly of the navigation act by the Assem- 
bly of March 23, 1661 ; but his efforts accomplished naught, 
and he returned in the fall of the following year, 1662. In 
his absence Col. Francis Morrison was elected to fill his 
place. 

Governor Berkele}^ gave a reply to the inquiries of the 
Lords Commissioners of Plantations respecting the state 
and condition of Virginia, at the end of which he tells that 
"every man instructed his children at home according to 
his abilitv. I thank God there are no free schools, nor 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 1.69 

printing, and I hope we shall not have these hundred years; 
for learning has brought disobedience into the world, and 
printing has divulged them and libels against the best 
governments." 

The arbitrary and oppressive administration in Virginia 
reached its climax, when in February, 1673, there was 
granted to the Earl of Arlington and Thomas, Lord Cul- 
peper, the entire territor\ of Virginia for the term of thirty- 
one years, at the yearly rent of forty shillings : this included 
private plantations long settled and improved as well as 
wild lands. The Assembly determined to make an humble 
address to his sacred majesty, praving for a revocation of 
this and other g/ants and for a confirmation of the rights 
and privileges of the colony. 

Francis Morrison, Thomas Ludwell, and Robert Smith 
were appointed to go and lay their complaints before the 
king; their expenses, being provided by heavy taxes, (and 
among these expenses were included douceurs to be given 
to courtiers.) They prayed that "Virginia shall no more be 
transferred in parcels to individuals, but ma}^ depend forever 
upon the crown of England." 

Beverley gives an account^ of an expedition, — sent 
out by Governor William Berkeley, under Captain Henry 
Batte, consisting of fourteen English and the same 
number of Indians, — to make explorations in the west, 
who starting forth from Appomattox River, in seven 
days reached the foot of the mountains. "It is supposed, 
that in this journey, Batte did not cross the great ridge of 
mountains." But more recent historians are convinced 
that these explorers crossed the Blue Ridge, passed through 



8 Beverley, I, 62, 63, 64. 



170 ^r-ir.4r5 of Virginia history 

the valley, scaled the Alleghany Mountains and penetrated 
nearty to the salt licks on the Kanawha River. ^ 

They found the mountains so full of precipices, that they 
made their wav with difficulty, and so high they seemed to 
touch the clouds; the steep ascent causing them to travel 
so slowly their advance in one day would be onlv three 
miles. Their course took them through extensive valleys, 
where they met with deer, turkeys and other wild game, 
which shewed no alarm at their near approach ; wild fruits 
also grew in abundance and grapes as large as plums, 
doubtless of the variety of fox or scuppernong grapes to be 
found still. 

Crossing one range they came, after passing through a 
level country, to the much loftier one, at the foot of which 
they discovered a beautiful valley, through which ran a 
rivulet descending from the high lands above, and flowing 
westward. Following this stream, they came to old Indian 
settlements and near to these, marshes; here the guides 
halted and refused to go further, saying not far off lived 
powerful tribes who made salt, which they sold to their 
neighbors ; but who never suffered strangers, who discovered 
their towns, to escape. 

Batte, though reluctant was compelled to return. He 
gave Berkeley so favorable a report, that the governor 
resolved to go upon a similar excursion, but this design 
was frustrated by events, threatening the peace of the 
colony, which demanded his entire attention. 

Historians connect the Indian depredations and murders, 
which finally ended in open war, with Batte's excursion, 
which, they suppose, excited the jealousy of the savages. 

" Howison, 335. 



BY-WAVS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY' 171 

When Nathaniel Bacon was chosen as leader of the band 
of people, who armed themselves in self-defence, he then 
stood high in the Council : his attainments and address 
had procured him a seat in the Council and the rank of 
Colonel in the militia. Being implicated in the slight 
insurrections of 1675, 1^^ had been then made prisoner, but 
was pardoned and reinstated. In the renewed excitement 
he came forward and joined the determined band, who had 
in vain petitioned the governor for protection and now sent 
to obtain from him a commission of General for Bacon. 
Berkeley tried to persuade Bacon to disband his forces; 
when instead, he mustered 500 men at the falls of the James, 
the governor issued a proclamation on May 29, 1676, declar- 
ing all, who should fail to return within a certain time 
rebels. Bacon also issued a proclamation setting forth the 
public dangers and grievances; charging Berkeley with 
neglect of proper precautions and exhorting the colonists 
to take arms in their own defense. 

Under Bacon a great many combined in an expedition 
against the Indians. Receiving no ofificial confirmation 
for his election, they marched to Jamestown, 600 strong, 
and surrounding the Assembly-house demanded his com- 
mission. The governor perceived his inability to resist 
their force, yet would not yield, till the council prepared 
a commission and prevailed on him to subscribe to Bacon's 
appointment as Captain-General of the Virginia forces. 
The insurgents then retired, and the Assembly no sooner 
felt relieved of their presence than they voted resolutions 
annulling the commission as extorted by force. ^ Flushed 
with their former success. Bacon's army returned and find- 
ing the governor had gone from Jamestown, across the bay 
to Accomac, Bacon then took possession of the govern- 
ment. Sir William also collected a force of a few friends. 



172 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

crews from the boats, and ntimbers of the lower people, and 
commenced a series of attacks on Bacon's army, when 
sharp encounters ensued. Jamestown was reduced to 
ashes by the insurgents, some of whom set fire to their own 
homes: many of the richest plantations were laid waste. 

In retaliation Berkeley executed many of the insurgents. 
Animosity mounted to a pitch threatening mutual exter- 
mination, and tidings of an approaching armament, dis- 
patched by the king, gave promise to greater desolation. 
Charles proclaimed Bacon a traitor and offered pardon to 
all forsaking him; and freedom to servants and slaves assist- 
ing in the suppression of the revolt. While Bacon was 
preparing to strike a decisive blow, his career was arrested 
by his sickness and death. ^° His followers then dispersed, 
anxious to secure their pardon, as no one was competent 
to take his place of leader. The tide of revolution rolled 
back. For eight months the colony had endured all the 
throes of civil war, and property to the amount of ;£i 00,000 
was destroyed. 

In his behalf, and in extenuation of those assisting him, 
Bacon had published a declaration, stating that Berkeley 
had wickedly fomented a civil war, and abdicated the 
government; that as their general, he had, with approba- 
tion raised an army for the public service, that their welfare, 
and trtie allegiance to his most sacred majesty, demanded 
that they oppose all forces, and have the king informed of 
the true state of the case. Public opinion, long divided, 
as to the right of his course, is today inclined to regard 
with leniency any mistakes Bacon committed, and to do 
justice to his motives of action, maintaining that he sacri^ 
ficed himself while endeavoring to adjust the wrongs of the 



i» Towards the close of the year 1676. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 173 

colonists, with no view to personal advancement: and it 
is claimed that had Bacon lived precisely a century later, 
he would have been one of the distinguished heroes of the • 
revolution ; whose conduct historians would have delighted 
as much in eulogizing, as at an earlier date, they delighted 
in blackening his character. 

A fleet under Admiral Sir John Berry or Barry, together 
with a regiment of soldiers under Col. Herbert Jeffreys and 
Colonel Morrison arrived on January 29, 1677, as commis- 
sioners to investigate the causes of the late commotions and 
to restore order. With them was associated Sir William 
Berkeley. They were authorized to pardon all who would 
duly take the oath of obedience and give security for their 
good behavior. The commission sat at Swan's Point: 
they discountenanced the excesses of Berkeley and the 
loyalists, and invited the insurgent planters, (who com- 
prised the body of the Virginia people) to bring in their 
grievances without fear. In their zeal for investigation, the 
commissioners seized the journals of the Assembly, for which 
indignity the burgesses in October, 1677, demanded satis- 
faction. In this same October Charles issued proclama- 
tions pardoning all except Bacon, and declaring Berkeley's 
proclamation February, 1677, not conformable to his in- 
structions. 

But it was only b}* an address from the Assembly at 
Green Spring, that Berkeley was prevailed upon to desist 
from further sanguinary punishments. Being recalled by 
the king April 27, 1677, this governor returned to England 
leaving Col. Herbert Jeffreys in office, to which he was 
sworn immediately. Broken in health, Sir William 
departed, to the relief of the colonists, who expressed their / 
satisfaction by displays of fireworks. The late anxieties 
aggravating disease, he died July 13, 1677. 



174 By'-ll'.4r5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XV. 

Delineation of the Country. Augustin Herman's 
Map with Series. 

The King's Grant to Augustine Herman of the privilege 
of the sole printing of his map of Virginia is dated January 
21. 1673 — "Whereas by the King's command he has been 
for several years past engaged in making a survey of his 
Majesties Countries of Virginia and Maryland and hath 
made a map of the same consisting of four sheets of paper 
with all the rivers, creeks and sovmdings, etc., being a work 
of very great pains and charge and for the King's especial 
Service, and whereas the copying or counterfeiting said Map 
would be very much to said Herman's prejudice and dis- 
couragement, all his Majesties siibjects are hereby strictly 
forbidden to copy, epitomize or reprint in whole or in part, 
any part of said Map within the term of fourteen years next 
ensuing, without the consent of said Herman his heirs or 
assigns." Domestic Entry Book. Charles II, Vol. 36. 
pp. 323-324. Whitehall. 

The only original of this map known is in the British 
Museum, but reproductions exist; and a copy may be 
seen in the Virginia State Library, Richmond. The size 
is 31.5 by 37.5. 

The influence of Herman's map is seen in all maps of 
Virginia up to Fry and Jefferson's of 1755. 

This is one of the series used in the commissioners' 
report upon the boundary line between Virginia and Mary- 
land, and has been reprinted as late as 1896. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 175 

AUGUSTINE Herman's map. 

"Virginia and Maryland, as it is Planted and Inhabited 
this present Year 1670 Surveyed and Exactly Drawne by 
the Only Labour and Endeavour of Augustin Herrman,^ 

BOHEMIENSIS. 

Published by Authority of his Ma'ties. 

Royall License and particular Privilege to Aug. 
Herman and Thomas Withinbrook, his Assignee, for four- 
teen yeares from the year of our Lord 1673. " 

This Map was engraved by W. Faithorne, Sculptor and 
has upon it a miniature portrait of Augiistine Herrman, 
Bohemian. 

The notes upon it, beginning from right to left are ; 

1. "Part of Roanoke River by others' relation." 

2. "The land between James River and Roanoke River 
is for the most parts Low, Suncken Swampy Land not well 
passable but with great difficulty And therein harbours 
Tygers, Bears and other Devouringe Creatures." 

3. "Here about Sir Will Barkley Conquered and tooke 
Prisoner the great Indian Emperour, Abatschakin, after 
the Massacre in Virginia. Ano. 

4. "Mount Edlo. This Name derives from a Person that 
was in his Infancy taken Prisoner in the last Massacra over 
Virginia. And carried amongst others to this Mount by 
the Indians, which was their watch Hill, the Country there 
about being Champion and not much Hilly. " 

5. "The Goulden or Brass Hill. With the Fountaine 
out this Hill, issued forth a glitteringe Stuff Sand like unto 
the Filings of Brass and so continued downwards this Necke 

2 Herman, "the lord of Bohemia Manor." 



176 



BY-WAY'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



that the very ground seemed to be covered over with the 
same Brassy stuff." 

6. "The Narrowes of York River and Mattapanye River. 
The Heads of these two Rivers Proceed and issue forth out 
of low Marshy ground and not out of hills or Mountaines as 
other Rivers doe. 




7. "These mighty High and great Mountaines trenching 
N. E. and S. W. and W. S. W. is supposed to be the very 
middle Ridg of Northern America and the only Naturall 
Cause of the fiercenes and extreme Stormy Cold Winds that 
comes N. W. from thence all over this Continent and makes 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 177 

frost. And as Indians reports from the other side West 
wards, doe the Rivers take their Originall issuing out into 
the West Sea, especiahy first discovered a very great River 
called the Black Mincquaas River out of which above the 
Sassquahana fort nieetes a branch some leagues distance 
opposit to one another out of the Sassquahana and Sinnicus 
Indians went over and destroyed that very great Nation 
and whether that same River comes o^it into the bay of 
Mexico or the West Sea is not known. Certain it is that, 
as the Spaniard is possessed with great Store of Minne- 
ralls at the other side of these Mountaines the same Treas- 
ure they may in process of time afford also to us here on 
this Side, when Occupyed, which is Recamended to Posterity 
to Remember: " 

8. "The great Sassquahana River runs up Northerly to the 
Sinnicus, above 200 miles with Divers Rivers and Branches 
on both sides to the East and West full of falls and Isles 
untill about 10 or 22 miles above the Sasquahana fort and 
then it runs cleare but Downwards not Navigable but with 
great danger with Indian Canoes by Indian Pilots. Nearby 
the present Sasquahana Indian fort. 

9. "Between the Heads of these opposite Branches, 
beeing Swampy, is but a narrow passage of Land to come 
down out of the same Continent into the Neck between 
these two great Rivers. " 

10. "An Indian Canoe made out of a Tree with their 
Battles or Oares, with the manner of rowing over the Rivers. 

11. "New larsy Pars, at present inhabited Only or most 
by Indians. 

"12. Path to Neuesinex and New Yorck. High land begins. 

An old English Map of Chesapeake Bay, (supposed to 
have been taken from Captain Smith's first map) "Nova 



178 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Terrae — Mariae tabula" is No. 3 of the collection in the 
State Library by T. Cecill, Sculpt., (a revised copy of which 
is to be found in Ogilby's America, 1671). The size is 
1 1 . 5 by 15 . cm. This map bears two coats of arms, English 
and French, the latter with the motto "Fatti Maschy 
Parole Femine:" And purporting to be a "Novae Angliae 
Pars" contains the " Oceamts Grienialis , " " Chesapeack bay" 
and " Virginiae Pars." "This Northerne part of Virginia 
(the limits whereof extendmany degrees farther southw^ards) 
is here inserted for the better description of the entrance 
into the Bay of Chesapeack" "Reprinted by Litho. Photo- 
graphic Inst., 492 New Oxford Sreet, London. 

"A Map of the British and French Dominions in North 
America with the Roads, Distances, Limits and Extent of 
the settlements. Humbly Inscribed to the Right Honourable, 
The Earl of Halifax, and the other Right Honourable, the 
Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, by their 
Lordships' most obliged and very humble servant, Jno. 
Mitchell (stamped 9 Ju. '64.) Thomas Hutchin, Sculpt. 
Clerkenwell Green was undertaken with the Approba- 
tion and at the request of the Lords Commissioners for 
Trade and Plantation; and is chiefly composed from 
Draughts, Charts and actual surveys of different parts of 
His Majesties Colonies and Plantations in America; Great 
part of which have been lately taken by their Lordships 
Orders and transmitted to this Office by the Governors of 
the said Colonies and others. " Plantation ofifice, February 
^3' 1755- John Pownall, Secretary. 

In this map "the Bounds of Pennsylvania and Mar^dand 
and the Delaware Counties, are here laid down according 
to the late decree in Chancery which is not supposed other- 
wise to affect the Claims of any. " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 179 

"After the first drawing of this Map in 1750 it was again 
corrected and improved before it was pubHshed and I have 
since taken Care to procure and examine all the informa- 
tion I could get, in order to render it as correct and usefull 
as possible which has given occasion to this Second Edition 
of it, in which I have likewise inserted all the Observations 
I believe we have for the Geography of North America, 
since I find them grosety misrepresented by others. The 
Foundation of this Map is the several Mss. Maps, Charts 
and Surveys, that have been lately made of our Colonies, 
which represent most Places from the Ocean to the Missisipi. 
— But in order to know the true Situation of those Places, 
we must have their Latitudes and Longitudes which are of 
much more Consequence in a general Map than their bare 
Shape or Figure, which we only find represented in our 
Draughts and Surve3^s. But after having consulted all 
the Observations I believe that we have, I found the true 
Situation of many Places was undetermined or uncertain 
and that in the principal Parts on the Coast; and that we 
had no Accounts of them, but what might be found in the 
Journals of our Ships of War kept in the Admiralty Office ; 
which I had Recourse to for that reason and have extracted 
from them whatsoever relates to our purpose, which are the 
chief Source of the Corrections and observations here 
inserted. 

Since the Publication of this Map, likewise I have ex- 
amined and compared with other Accounts, the Observa- 
tions of Mr. Chabert which were not made when our Map 
was first drawn, nor known in England till after it was 
published: So that we neither followed nor rejected them. 
From these authorities we find but two Alterationsnecessary 
in our Map: i in the Latitude of Cape Race: 2 in the Longi- 
tude of Cape Sable * * * * 



180 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

"* * * * We are so far from improving them in the 
Geography of America that we see it made worse and worse 
for want of certain observations, which we have endeavored 
to collect and thus to represent in one view." 

Certain referential figures and dates mark points on the 
coast given in this map: For instance at Curutuck inlet the 
marking is III. 1727; at Cape Henlopen, Mouth of Dele- 
ware Bay, is IV.; at Little Egg He oft" of the Jersey coast 
is V^. 1745; a:t the top of St. George's Bank, X^, 1746. 

Here are laid down Cities and Capitals ; Towns ; Villages ; 
Indian Towns and Forts ; Fortifications ; Forts (of the colo- 
nists) ; Habitations fortified; Settlements; Roads with 
their Distances; Falls in Rivers; Deserted Indian Villages. 

Reprinted by the Litho. Photographic Inst. 492, New 
Oxford Street, London. 

Another Map of Virginia is the "Carte de la Virginie et 
du Maryland, dressee stir la grande carte Anglo is e de Messrs. 
Josue Fry et Pierre Jefferson, par le Sr. Robert de Vaiigondy 
Geographe ordinaire du Roi. Avec Privilege, i'/5j. " With 
the whole of the Virginia colonial settlement, this gives 
the southern portion of Pennsylvania, a part of New Jersey, 
" De la War Counties" and Maryland; and in the west the 
country beyond the Alleghany Mountains known as 
"Louisiana." Rep. by Litho. Photographic Inst. 492. 
New Oxford Street, London. 

An accurate Map of North America describing and dis- 
tinguishing the British and Spanish dominions on this 
great continent, according to the Definitive Treaty con- 
cluded at Paris the loth of February, 1763, also all the West 
India Islands, belonging to and possessed by the several 
European Princes and States, " the whole laid down accord- 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 181 

ing to the latest and Most Authentick Improvements" 
was drawn by Eman Bowen, Geographer to his Majesty 
and John Gibson, Engraver. 

This map includes the settlement of Virginia to the Blue 
Ridge Mountains, from the seashore; along with all the 
coast country, Terra de Labrador, New Britain, New 
Foundland, Nova Scotia (or Acadia) New England, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North 
and South Carolina. It also gives the bounds of the 
Province of Quebec. 

Also there is printed upon it in full the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 
9th, 17th and 1 8th Articles of the Definitive Treaty; and 
certain explanatory notes, "Cape or Port is designedly 
omitted in all late French Maps and Charts because it sets 
Bounds to their Fishing which by the Treaty of Utrecht 
is to begin here and to extend to the North East to Cape 
Bonarista and no farther on the Coast of New Foundland. " 

"Cape Sable is laid down according to Chabert, who 
made his Observations in ye Year 1 7 5 1 . And South Carolina 
according to the survey of William de Brahm. " 

"The Limits of His Majesty's several Provinces are here 
laid down as they at present exercise their jurisdiction. 
But the Limits of the Massachusets Province with New 
York, New York with New Jersey, Connecticutt with New 
York and Pennsylvania with Maryland, are not yet finally 
determined. Nor is the Boundary of North and South 
Carolina yet settled, or of South Carolina and Georgia. " 

By the Litho. Photographic Inst., 492, New Oxford Street. 

A map by John Henry, father of Patrick Henry, pub- 
lished in London in 1770, is advertised as "A new and 
accurate map of Virginia wherein most of the counties are 



1X2 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

laid down from actual surveys; with a concise account of 
the number of inhabitants, the trade, sale and produce of 
the provinces, by John Henry ; engraved by Thomas Jeffreys, 
geographer to the king. " 

A curiosity of the map is that a large section of Augusta 
county is labeled the Irish tract, because settled bv the 
Scotch-Irish. 

West Point or "West's Point," on York river, ( so called 
from the family name of De la Warr) was at one time known 
as De la war and on this map is so laid down. 

A Map of the most inhabited part of Virginia, containing 
the whole Province of Mar3'land with part of Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey and North Carolina, was drawn by Joshua Fry 
and Peter Jeff erson in 1775, and bears the seal of the British 
Museum upon it. 

"To the Right Honourable George Dunk, Earl of Halifax, 
First Lord Commissioner and to the rest of the Right Hon- 
ourable and Honourable Commissioners for Trade and 
Plantation ; this Map is most humblv Inscribed to their 
Lordships by their Lordships' most Obedient and most 
devoted humble Servant, Thos. Jeffreys. " Printed for 
Robert Sayer at No. 53 in Fleet Street, London, it was also 
reprinted by the Litho. Photographic Inst., 492, New 
Oxford Street, London. 

A marginal note explains that the line between Virginia 
and North Carolina from the sea to Peter's Creek was sur- 
veyed in 1728 by the Honourable William B^^rd, William 
Dandridge and Richard Fitzwilliams, Commissioners, and 
Mr. Alexander Irvine and Mr. William Mayo, Surveyors. 

The earliest edition of this map was made in 1755. 

In the list at Virginia State Librarv' it is numbered g. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 183 

"A Compleat Map of North Carolina," from an actual 
Survey, by Captain Collet, Governor of Fort Johnston, 
Engraved by I. Bayly, included a part of southern Virginia, 
west six degrees of longitude from Currituck Inlet; and 
was published by Act of Parliament, May i8, 1774, by S. 
Hooper, 25 Ludgate Hill, London; (later issued from the 
Litho. Photographic Inst. 492, New Oxford Street, London). 

"To his most Excellent Majesty, George the III, King 
of Great Britain, etc., etc., etc., this Map is most humbly 
dedicated by his Majesty's most humble obedient and 
dutiful Servant, John Collet. " 

This map contains a good portion of South Carolina, its 
principal rivers, Waggomaw, Little Pedee, Great Pedee, 
Linches Creek, Wateree and Congaree Rivers emptying into 
San tee River and their tributaries, Pinetree and Fishing 
Creek, Sandy, Tyger and Salude Rivers; Savannah and 
Little Rivers, wdth the Indian trail from the Catawbah 
Indian tribe reservation to the Cherokee Nation. The 
country is represented as covered by forests. 

The whole of the state of North Carolina is here delineated, 
its forest, mountains, streams, ports and inland habitations, 
together with the Dismal Swamp, Albemarle Sound and 
the Indian Country, and all known marsh land. Upon this 
map there are no marginal notes. 

A Map of the country between Albemarle Sound and 
Lake Erie comprehending the whole of Virginia, Maryland, 
Delaware and Pennsylvania with parts of several other of 
the United States of America (New York on the north; 
two "New States" unnamed and Kentucky in the west 
lying south from Lake Erie; the states of Franklin 
and North Carolina on the south; a neck of New 



1S4 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY' 

York and poi'tion of New Jersey on the east) was engraved 
for Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia." In this map, 
"the country on the eastern side of the Alleghany moun- 
tains is taken from Fry and Jeffersons' Map of Virginia 
and Scull's Map of Pennsylvania which were constructed 
chiefly on actual surv'-ey. That on the western side of the 
Alleghany is taken from Hutchins, w'ho went over the 
principal water-courses with a compass ***** 
correcting his work by observations of latitude: additions 
have been made where they could be made on sure ground. " 
Here mountain ranges are more accurately and distinctly 
followed; towns, forts, courthouses, churches and private 
dwellings are located, and lines dividing counties and states 
are quite correctly given. From Litho. Photographic 
Inst. 492 New Oxford Street, London. 

A copy of the Enquirer of the year 1827 contains an 
advertisement of a New Map of Virginia. 

" The new map of Virginia, compiled from actual surveys, 
under the authority of the State is now published and may 
be obtained by persons desirous of procuring it on appli- 
cation to William H. Richardson, at the Capitol in the city 
of Richmond. 

"This work, effected by th? labour of many years and at 
a great cost of care and money, has never, perhaps, been 
surpassed in variety and accuracy of detail, or in beauty 
or elegance of execution. It reflects the highest credit on 
the science and skill of the persons immediately concerned 
in its publication and must prove highly gratifying and 
useful to the public. The Legislature have authorized the 
sale of 250 Copies only of this Map, (on the large scale of five 
miles to the inch) ; and the Executive, with the view of 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY . 185 

making the sale as extensive and rapid as possible, have 
directed the copies to be disposed of at the moderate price 
of $20. 

"Under these circumstances, it is probable that persons 
who shall not make early application, will be unable to 
abtain a Copy of this beautiful and valuable work." 

August 3 , 1827. 



186 ^r-ir.41'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Formation of Cities. 

Of the first metropolis, Jamestown, selected by the 
settlers, because of its convenient situation, and security 
against the savages, we read that in 1611 "it hath two 
rows of houses of framed timber, some of them two stories 
and a garret higher, three large Storehouses, joined together 
in length and hee (Gov. Dale) hath newly strongly impaled 
the towne." 

For some years after this, the history of the town was 
scarcely separable from that of the colony. It continued 
to increase and improve slowly in its way, until 1641 at 
Sir William Berkeley's arrival, "when it took a sudden 
start, and to signalize his administration, he caused thirty- 
two brick houses to be built in it, at public expense and 
occupied one of them himself. xVlso he caused a brick 
church to be erected and the burying ground attached to it, 
to be enclosed with a substantial brick wall. " 

A portion of the steeple of the church then built or the 
one subsequently constructed on its site, ma}^ still be seen 
and two feet of the walls; the old tower standing as a 
sentinel, guarding, all the past years, the resting place 
of the first settlers and many of their successors. 

Here lies buried Lady Berkeley, who remained behind 
when Sir William returned to England in 1677: no monu- 
ment marked her grave, and therefore the exact spot can 
not be identified. Here also lie Rev. Commissary Blair 
and his wife, Rev. Robert Hunt and many others, the recall 



BY-WAVS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 



187 



of whose names now must rest upon conjecture: for doubt- 
less not even the death and interment of Capt. Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, in honor of whom all the Ordnance in the 
fort was shot off, was marked beyond the in memoriam of 
Percy's list,^and yet he was the admiral and pilot for the 
first founders, and "honorable member" of the Virginia 
Council. 




Ruins at Jamestov/n. 

An act was passed by the Assembly in October, 1660, for 
building a vState House, in James City "for the Right Hon- 
orable the governor, and council to keep courts and for 
future Grand Assemblies to meet in. " "This building was 
erected under the superintendance of Sir William Berkeley ■ 
and a committee, consisting of Col. William Barber, Col. 
Gerard Fowkes, Col. Kendall, Mr. Thomas Warren, Mr. 
Raleigh Traverse, and Mr. Thomas Lucas. It was built of 
bricks, made in or near the town; and it is supposed that 
this State House adjoined Sir William's own residence." 



188 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

On September 19, 1676, Jamestown was burned by 
Bacon's troops: the State House, governor's own home and 
the 32 brick houses, together with the church, — which was 
lower down, — were all destroyed, the magazine being the 
only building left. 

Partly rebuilt, Jamestown was again visited by a destruc- 
tive fire, on October 31, 1698, which deprived the colonists 




Burning of Jamestown. 
From an old print, 1834, said to be an accurate picture. 

of a State Building the second time. No further effort was 
made to restore the ill-fated tov\^n, but, instead, another 
seat of government was chosen. 

As time passed, the main portion of Jamestown, never 
very large, west of the old steeple, became submerged in 
the river. ^ 

Jamestown island, becoming the property of the Jaque- 
lin-Ambler connection, long remained the residence of this 

1 Virginia Historical Register. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 189 

family. The last member of the family born at the old 
homestead was John Jaquelin Ambler, of whom a 
portrait is here given. When he moved to the upper 
country and became domiciled at Glen Ambler, in Amherst 
county, he brought with him a collection of family portraits. 
This Ambler left a very carefully prepared Mss. volumicof 
the family history, with space for its continuance by de- 
scendants. A connection of this family owns Dunmore's 
old hall clock, still in running order; other relics, of the 
1 8th century, are preserved by this family. 

In the year 1633 "every fortieth man in the neck of land 
between the James and the York, (called Charles River 
at that time) was directed to repair to the plantation of 
Dr. John Pott, to be employed in building houses and 
securing that tract of land lying between Queen's Creek 
empt^nng into Charles RiA^er, and Archer's Hope Creek 
emptying into James River. " 

This was the beginning of the settlement at Middle 
Plantation; so called because it lay between the two 
rivers. Each person settling there was entitled to fifty 
acres of land and exemption from general taxes. This, the 
oldest incorporated town, was settled from the adjoining 
plantations. 

When the State House and prison at Jamestown were 
burned in 1698, the general courts and assemblies were 
moved, together with the residence of the governor, "seven 
miles distant," to Middle Plantation, considered at this 
time more convenient and healthier, and now christened 
Williamsburg,^ in honor of the ruling sovereign. 

^ Howison, Vol. I, p. 369. "Previous to the revolution Virginia presented a phase 
of human life almost unknown in the history of the world. She was without cities 
for her single town contained but 18 dwellings, with a state house and time-honoured 
church." 



190 



BY-WAYS OF \'!RG!.\'JA HISTORY 




'^■\:^b' 






m 



JOHX JAQUELIN AMBLER, 

son of John, the last Ambler proprietor at Jamestown, — 
was the ,last of his name born at the island home. He 
moved to his estate, in Amherst county, called Glen- 
Ambler which has since been the residence of the oldest 
branch of this family, now represented by Mr. Beverley 
Ambler, a grandson. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 191 

An act was passed on April, 1699, for building a capitol 
in the new metropolis. The governor, Nicholson, laid out 
the city in the form of a cipher by joining the letters, W. 
and M ; the lots having upon them dwelling aind warehouses. 
The principal buildings constructed were the college, the 
capitol, the governor's house and the church. 

The edifice erected on the land (purchased for the college) 
was occupied by the House of Burgesses, from 1700, until 
it was burned in ijoi. 

Williamsburg was for nearly eighty years the capital of 
the colony, and for three 3'^ears, the state capital, till the 
seat of government was transferred to Richmond. 

In 1700 among the- articles upon which a tax was laid 
for the building of a Capitol, were the servants imported, 
not being natives of England or Wales, fifteen shillings per 
poll, and twenty shillings on every negro or other slave. 

"At the end of a street just three quar;fcers of a mile in 
length stands the Capitol,'^ a noble, beautiful and commodi- 
ous pile, built at the cost of the late queen (Anne) and b}' 
direction of the Governor. In this is the Secretar^'-'s office 
with all the courts of law and justice, held in the same form 
and near the same manner as in England, except the eccle- 
siastical courts. Here the Governor and twelve couiicillors 
sit as judges in the general courts in April and October, 
whither trials and causes are removed from courts held at 
the courthouses monthly in every county by a bench of 
justices and a count}^ clerk. Here also are held the Oyer 
and Terminer Courts, one in summer and the other in winter, 
added, by the charity of the late queen, for the prevention 
of prisoners lying in jail above a quarter of a year before 
their trial. 



1 



'Burned in 1746, soon rebuilt. This structure was also burned April, 1832. 



192 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 



"The building is in the form of an H nearly. In each wing 
is a good staircase, one leading to the council chamber, 
where the governor and council sit in very great state, in 
imitatioa of the king and his council. Over the portico 
is a large room where conferences are held and pravers are 
read by the chaplain to the general assembly, which office 
P have had the honor some years to perform: * * * * 
Upon the middle is raised a lofty cupola with a large clock. 




Old Capitol at Williamsburg. 

"The whole is surrounded with a neat area, encompassed 
with a good wall and near it is a strong, sweet prison for 
criminals and on the other side of the open court another 
for debtors, but such prisoners are rare, the creditors being 
there very merciful and the laws so favorable, that some 
esteem them too indulgent. 

* Rev. Hugh Jones. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 193 

"The cause of my describing the capitol so particularly 
is because it is the best and most commodious pile of its 
kind that I have seen or heard of. The use of fire, candles, 
or tobacco is prohibited in the capitol because the state 
house at Jamestown, and the college here have been 
burned clown." 

The first building erected for a capitol (here described 
by Jones) was burnt in 1746; shortly afterwards another 
was built, but this shared the same fate in April 1832. 
This is known in history as the Old Capitol, where Patrick 
Henry, with "the air of an obscure and unpolished rustic" 
astonished all by "the rugged might and majesty of his 
eloquence" and introduced rfesolutions which being adopted, 
made Virginia foremost in opposition to arbitrary measures 
of England's Parliament. 

Historic Bruton Church, ''named from the parish, and 
rich in associations of two centuries and more, is the most 
interesting building in Williamsburg; "it is a large strong 
piece of brick- work in the form of a cross, nicely regular 
and convenient and adorned as the best churches in London. 
Imbedded in its walls are four memorial tablets and outside 
a churchyard of age equalling its own, is filled with the 
tombs of other years. To this church now belongs the 
old silver communion service, from Jamestown Church, of 
massive silver; the cup belonging to which bears the in- 
scription 'Mix not holy things with profane.'" 

The old powder magazine, known at first as the Octagon 
Magazine, was the one, for the robbing the contents of which, 
Dunmore was brought to a settlement. Afterwards this 
served in turn as a church, a market, a dancing school and 
a stable. 

5 The gubernatorial pew of Spotswood, raised from the floor, covered with a canopy, 
on which his name in gilt was written, remained many years in this church. — Howe. 



194 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

Another interesting building was the old Raleigh tavern, 
burned in i86c, in which balls were held in colonial times; 
later it was the rendezvous for Revolutionary heroes. 
In 1724 Williamsburg had been incorporated and made a 
market town. 

Campbell gives a copy of the letter addressed by the 
King to the archbishops at the time efforts were being 
made to establish a college at Henrico ; which was to the 
"Most reverend father in God and well beloved counsellor. 
' ' You have heard ere this time of the attempt of divers worthy 
men, our subjects, to plant in Virginia (under the warrant 
of our letters' patents) people of this kingdom as well as 
for the enlarging of our dominions, as for the propagation 
of the gospel am.ongst infidels : Whereon there is good prog- 
ress made and hope of further increase: So as the under- 
takers of that plantation are now in hand with the erecting 
of some churches and schools for the education of the 
children of those barbarians, which cannot but be to them 
a very great charge and above the expense, which for the 
civil plantation, doth come to them. 

" In which we doubt not but that you, and all others who 
wish well to the increase of Christian religion, will be willing 
to give all assistance and furtherance 3^ou may, and therein 
to make experience of the zeal and devotion of our well- 
minded subjects, especially those of the clergy. Wherefore 
we do require you, and hereby authorize you, to write your 
letters to the several bishops of the dioceses in your province, 
that they do give order to the ministers and other zealous 
men of their dioceses, both by their own example in contribu- 
tion and by exhortation to others to move our people within 
their several charges to contribute to so good a work, in 
as liberal a manner as they may ; for the better advancing 



5r-Tr.4r.s of Virginia history 195 

whereof our pleasure is, that those collections be made in 
all the particular parishes, four several times within these 
two years next coming; and that the several accounts of 
each parish, together with the moneys collected be returned 
from time to time to the bishops of the dioceses and by 
them be transmitted half yearly to you ; and so to be 
delivered to the treasurer of that plantation to be emplo^-ed 
for the godly purposes intended and none other/' 

With the settlemient of families in homes, there succeeded 
many efforts at providing for the benefits of education. 
"A sum of money had been collected by the English bishops, 
by direction of the king, for the maintenance of an institu- 
tion in Virginia for the Christian education of Indian child- 
ren and various steps were taken by the company towards 
the foundation of a colonial college. This latter project 
was agitated as early as 161 7 and was discussed in the 
first Assembly at Jamestown in 161 9. Henrico City was 
the selected location for this college, 15,00c acres of land 
were reserved for the fund, and money was contributed in 
the mother country, but the design was abandoned on 
account of the Indian massacre of 1622. " 

Various later attempts were made at different times to 
found a college, but without effect ; until the year 1691 at 
the instance of Rev. James Blair, (commissary of the 
Bishop of London) a liberal subscription was raised and 
an act passed to establish at Middle Plantation the college^ 
which has sent forth from its walls so many illustrious 
alumni. Of this college Gov. Francis Nicholson and others 
were nominated as incorporators. The Rev. Mr. Blair was 



* Stith, History of Virginia, p. 159. 

' "The site selected was in the Middle Plantation Old Fields near the church." 



196 



BY' -WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



sent to England to solicit a charter from King William 
and Queen Mary: and on February 8, 1692, he had the 
royal grant given him. 

Empowered by this instrument the trustees could hold 
lands to the value of ;^2,ooo per annum. The king gave 
them ^'1,985 to be apphed towards building and one penny 
per pound on all tobacco exported from Maryland and 




William and Mary College, Williamsburg. 

Virginia for the support of the institution, with one-half 
of the surveyor's fees and 20,000 acres of land "to be held 
by them and their successors forever paying to their 
Majesties and their Successors two copies of Latin verses 
yearly and nothing more." 

Virginia had been tardy in acknowledging allegiance to 
the royal patrons of its college. William, Prince of Orange, 
landed at Torbay in November, 1688, and he and Mary, 
(daughter of James II,) were proclaimed King and Queen on 
February 13, 1689, the coronation taking place April nth 
of the same year. The}' had been seated on the throne 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 197 

several months before they were proclaimed in Virginia, 
the delay being due to the reiterated pledges of fealty 
made by the Council to James II. and from the fear that 
he might be restored to the kingdom. 

Some of the Virginians insisted as there was no king in 
England, so there was a vacancy in the executive of the 
colony. 

"At length, in compliance with the repeated commands 
of the privy council, William and Mary were proclaimed 
at James City, April, 1689, Lord and Lady of Virginia. This 
event with the circumstances connected with it, was duly 
announced to the lords commissioners of plantations in a 
letter dated April 29th, by Nicholas Spencer, Secretary of 
State. » 

"The accession of this Prince dispelled the clouds of 
discontent and alarm, inspiring the people with hopeful 
anticipations. For about seventy years Virginia had been 
subject to the house of vStuart and there was little in the 
retrospect to awaken regret at their downfall." 

Queen Mary died of smallpox in 1694. 

William III. died in March, 1701. 

" In fondness of prerogative William III. shewed himself, 
a grandson of Charles the First. The government of Virginia 
under him was not materially improved. His successor, 
Anne, sister of Mary, in compliance with requests of the 
Assembly granted the war-like stores, which were to be paid 
out of the quitrents. The preceding reign had seriously 
interrupted Virginia's commerce and customary siipplies; 
the Queen now encouraged tlie domestic manufacture of 
linen and wool." 

8 Campbell, pp. 343-363. 



198 BY-WAYS OF YIRGIX/A HISTORY 

"Nicholson in a memorial to the Council of trade described 
the Virginians as numerous (40,000) rich and of republican 
principles, such as ought to be lowered; that then or never 
was the time to maintain the Queen's prerogative and stop 
pernicious notions, which were increasing daily and a frown 
from her majesty now, would do more than an army 
thereafter; he insisted on the necessity of a standing 
army. " 

The trustees of the college in December, 1693, purchased 
of Thomas Ballard 330 acres of land in James City county. 

The Rev. Hugh Jones, A. M., " Chaplain to the honorable 
Assembly and lately minister in Jamestown" in his Present 
State of Virginia (17 2 4) described the college then standing 
"the front looking due east, which is double, and is 136 feet 
long; alofty pile of brick buildings, adorned with a cupola. 
At the north end runs back a large wing, which is a hand- 
some hall, answerable to which the chapel is to be built, 
and there is a spacious piazza on the west side, from one 
wing to the other. It is approached by a good walk and a 
grand entrance by steps, with good courts and gardens 
about it ; with a good house and apartments for the Indian 
master and his scholars and outhouses ; and a large pasture 
enclosed, like a park, with about 150 acres adjoining." 

"The building is beautiful and commodious, being first 
modelled by Sir Christopher Wren, and adapted to the na- 
ture of the country by the gentlemen there; since it was 
burned down it has been rebuilt, altered and adoriied by 
the ingenious direction of Governor Spotswood. " 

The college was burned 17 O5 (again February 8, 1859.) 

Duties on furs and skins were granted for the college 
support, besides "several additional benefactions." "A late 
contribution of ,:^i,ooc to buy negroes for college use 
and service," was made. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 199 

"The trustees appoint a person to whom they grant 
several privileges and allowances, to board and lodge the 
masters and scholars at extraordinary cheap rates. 

"This office is at present performed in the neatest and 
most regular and plentiful manner by Mrs. Mar}?- Stith, 
a gentlewoman of great worth and discretion." 

"There was a commencement at William and Mary Col- 
lege in 1700, at which was a great concourse of people; 
several planters came thither in coaches and others in 
sloops from New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, it 
being a new thing in that part of America to hear graduates 
perform their exercises. The Indians themselves had the 
curiosity, some of them, to visit Williamsburg upon that 
occasion; and the whole country rejoiced as if they had 
some relish of learning.^" 

An early issue of the Gazette contained the notice from 
Williamsburg, November 12, 1736. "On this day se'night, 
being the fifth day of November, the president, masters 
and scholars, of Wiliam and Mary College went, according 
to their annual custom, in a body, to the governor's to 
present his honor with two copies of Latin verses, in 
obedience to their charter, as a grateful acknowledgment 
for two valuable tracts of land given said college by their 
late King William, and Queen Mary. 

"Mr. President delivered the verses to his honor; and two 
of the young gentlemen spoke them. It is further observed 
there were upwards of sixty scholars present; a much 
greater number than has been any year before since the 
foundation of the college. " 

The war proving disastrous to Williamsburg, the capitol 
was moved further inland to a place at which state interests 
have since centered. 

8 CampbeU, p. 362. 



200 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In 1609 Master West, member of the Council, went up 
to the Falls of James River to search for provisions. The 
same year West was sent with a colonv of 120 men to 
settle there. ' 

In 1644 the Assembh" ordered a fort to be erected at the 
Falls to be called "ffort Charles." 

In 1646 an act was passed " Whereas there is no plautable 
land adjoining to ifort Charles and no encouragement for 
any undertaker to maintaine the same, it is enacted, That 
if any person purchasing the right of Captain Thomas 
Harris shall seat on the south side of the river, opposite the 
fforte this or the ensuing A^eare, he shall have the houseing 
belonging to the ffort for the use of timber or by burning 
them for the nailes, shall be exempted from the publique 
taxes for three years, the number not to exceed ten persons 

* * * * as shall also have the boats and amnutnition 
belonging to the ffort. " 

"At the time of the Indian war in 1675, fort\ -five men 
out of James City county were garrisoned near the ft'alls 
at Captain Byrd's, or at a ffort over against him,atNew]ett's 
of which Coll. Edward Ramsay was chiefe commander." 

"In 1679 Col. Byrd, Sr., was granted certain privileges 
provided he settled fifty able bodied and well armed men 
in the vicinity of the falls to act as a barrier to the frontier 
against the Indians. " 

Col. Byrd in 1732 describes his plantation (called Byrd's 
Warehouse,) to which he drove in his chariot, as of a wild 
prospect, upwards and downwards, the river full of rocks 
over which the stream tumbled. And there is an account 
from Burnaby's Travels of "Belvedere upon a hill at the 
lower end of the falls commanding a fine view of the river. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



201 



half a mile broad, with islands scattered about and a pro- 
digious extent of wilderness. "^ 

In 1733 Col. Byrd writes in his Journal "on a journey to 
Roanoke (Randolph's home) the plan of Richmond and 
Petersburg was conceived. We laid the foundation of two 
large cities, one at Shacco's, to be called Richmond; the 
other at the point of Appomattox river, to be called 
Petersburg. "These Major Mayo offered to lay off into 
lots without fee or rew^ard. " 




BlANDFOED ChCKCH, pETERSBrEG. 

The following advertisement appeared in the Virginia 
Gazette in April, 1737: "This is to give notice that on the 
north side of James river near the uppermost landing and 
a little below the falls, is lately laid off by Major Mayo, a 
town called Richmond, with streets sixty-five feet wide in 
a pleasant and healthy situation and well supplied with 
springs and good water. It lies near the public warehouse 
at Shockoe's and in the midst of great quantities of grain 

9 Cited by Howe. 



202 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

and all kinds of provisions. The lots will be granted in 
fee simple on condition onty of building a house in three 
years' time, of twenty-four by sixteen feet, fronting within 
five feet of the street. The lots to be rated according to the 
convenience of their situation and to be sold after this 
April general court by me, William Byrd. " 
• Established in 1737, the town of Richmond became 
incorporated in 1742 on land belonging to Col. Byrd (who 
died, 1 744, in the reign of King George II.) It was named 
for Richmond on the Thames from the supposed resemblance 
of its situation. 

The assailable position of Williainsburg in 1777 caused 
the removal of the troops ammunition and public records 
to Richmond and two years later the seat of government, 
by act of Assembly, was changed to this place. 

Jefferson in explaining the design selected for the capitol 
at Richmond says "we took for our model what is called 
the Maison Quarree of Nismes, one of the most beautiful, 
if not the most beautiful, and precious morsels of archi- 
tecture left us by antiquity. If was built by Caius and 
Lucius Caesar and repaired b}^ Louis XIV. and has the 
suffrage of all the judges of architecture who have seen it 
as yielding to no one of the beautiful monuments of 
Greece, Rome, Palmyra and Balbec, which late travellers 
have communicated to us. " 

In 1750 one John Wood, architect, of Bath, England, 
published the "Illustrations of Baalbec and Palmyra" 
the fame of which created a taste for Roman magnificence. 
English taste in architecture reached America in simplified 
form, as to decoration, but preserved the imposing grandeur 
of the main entrance. 



o 




204 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Upper Norfolk County fornledin March, 1645, was changed 
to Nansinian: Lower Norfolk was in 1691 divided in two 
parts, one called Norfolk County, the other Princess Ann. 

Norfolk, on the north bank of Elizabeth river, near the 
I'unction of its southern and eastern branches, was first 
established by law as a town in October, 1705, in the fourth 
year of the reign of Queen Anne ; at VN'hich time its favorable 
situation for trade had gathered a considerable popula- 
tion. ^^ 

Col. Byrd writes of Norfolk in .the year 1728 "it has 
most the air. of a town of any in Virginia, and has all the 
advantages of situation requisite for trade and navigation. 
The town is built on a level spot upon the river, the banks 
whereof are neither so low as to be in danger of overflowing, 
nor so high as to make the landing of goods troublesome: 
The streets are straight and adorned with several good 
houses, which increase every da^^ It is not a town of 
Ordinaries and public houses, like most others in this 
country, but the inhabitants consist of merchants, ship- 
carpenters, and other useful artisans, with sailors enough 
to manage their navigation. With these advantages, 
however, it lies under two great disadvantages, by having 
neither good air nor good water. The two cardinal virtues, 
that make a place thrive, industry and frugality, are seen 
here in perfection. 

Norfolk was formed into a borough, on September 15, 1736, 
by royal charter from George II. Sir John Randolph, though 
not a resident, was appointed recorder, and he presented 
to the corporation, a silver mace, weighing several pounds. 

11 Howe, p. 112. In January, 1776, Norfolk contained 6,000 inhabitants, and was 
then the most populous town in Virginia. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



205 



Its fine harbor made Norfolk a great naval depot, as it 
admitted vessels of the largest size. At the completion of the 
Dismal Swamp Canal, its facilities for trade greatly in- 
creased. 

By act of legislature April 24, 1845, Norfolk became 
established as a cit3^ 

A VISIT FROM GOVERNOR TYLER TO NORFOLK, 

MAY 19, 1826. 

(From the Norfolk Herald.) 

"Our distinguished fellow-citizen, John Tyler, Governor 
of Virginia, is now on a visit to this place, attended by Col. 
Pendleton of the Executive Council, and Colonel Crozet, 
Engineer to the Board of Public Works, — having arrived on 
Sunday night in the steamboat, Petersburg. On Monday 




St. Paul's Church, Norfolk. 

the Governor paid a visit to Fortress Monroe to examine 
the situation and military works of that place and returned 
in the evening. On Tuesday morning he set out for the 



20(; BY-WAYS OF YIRGIXIA HISTORY 

Dismal Swamp Canal and Lake Drummond, with Colonels 
Pendleton and Crozet, accompanied by several of the 
Directors and other citizens. He expressed great pleasure 
and admiration at the magnitude and importance of the 
canal, which very far exceeded his exjiectations and enlisted 
his best wishes in its behalf. 

"The weather being excessively warm, the party did not 
return until Wednesdav evening. Yesterdav the Governor 
paid a visit to the Navy Yard, where he was received with 
the utmost hospitalitv and attention bv the worthv com- 
mander, Com. Barron, with whom after viewing the various 
departments of the Yard and other objects of interest, he 
partook of a collation, with a number of our most esteem.ed 
citizens, who accompanied him thither. 

"On his return from the Navy Yard to his lodgings (at 
Mrs. Murphy's boarding house) the 54th regiment under 
the command of Colonel AUmand. being on parade, marched 
in review before the governor, he receiving the passing 
salute, standing in the balcony, uncovered. The Governor 
then, with the gentlemen accompanying him, and several 
of our citizens, repaired on board the Macedonian frigate 
to dine with Captain Biddle, where they were entertained 
in elegant style and spent a most agreeable afternoon. 
The Governor will take the steamboat this afternoon on 
his return to Richmond. 

"The dignified simplicity of his manners, his frank and 
unostentatious deportment, involuntarily commanded for 
Governor Tyler the warm attachment and respect of all 
of our citizens, who have had the pleasure of associating 
with him during his stay among them and peculiarly adapt 
him for the office of Chief Magistrate of a purely republican 
people." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 207 

In 1680 the Assembly authorized the establishment of 
towns'- on selected sites, one for each county; twenty were 
provided by special enactment. This was for "the en- 
couragement of trade and manufacture" and restricted 
vessels to certain prescribed ports, where the government 
desired the towns to be established. But this did not 
accord with the taste or interest of the planters, who had 
acquired a preference for the more independent life on 
their plantations, the residence part of which they called 
their manor places; therefore the law resulted largely in 
creating merely paper towns. 

Parishes grew up with the form-atioii of every new county, 
church and state moving hand in hand. In 1688 the pro- 
vince contained 48 parishes; a church was built in every 
parish and a house and glebe assigned to the clergyman, 
(along with a stipend, fixed by law at 16,000 pounds of 
tobacco). The glebe and courthouse were the pivots 
around which all interests revolved, to which all of the 
community must go for counsel, redress or correction: even 
if the distance of fifty miles or more intervened between 
them and the inhabitant. But no amount of inconvenience 
weakened the devotion of the planters to their country 
homes. 

Virginia, the oldest of the states, which ranked as to 
population in 1790, first in number,- — in the year 1853 had 
fallen fourth in rank; many newer states held a larger 
municipal population in proportion to their size, while the 
preferance for country life, in the Old Dominion, was mani- 
fested in the census returns of only seven per cent, of her 
population then registered in cities or towns. 

> 2 Towns and counties received their names largely from those of prominent states- 
men; in 1853 there were 100 Jeflfersons and Jacksons, a folio of Washingtons and 
Franklins, just as in colonial times names of the royal families had been popular. 



208 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XVII. 

The Knight of the Golden Horseshoe. 
" Colonel and Member of his Majesty's Council. " 

"The Governor represented the King: he was Commander 
in Chief, and Vice Admiral; Lord Treasurer, in issuing war- 
rants for the paying of moneys; Lord Chancellor, as passing 
grants under the company's seal ; President of the Council ; 
Chief Justice of the courts with powers of a Bishop. The 
Governor and Council were all colonels and honorables. 
The Council, being appointed at his nomination, were in 
effect clients of the Governor, receiving office and place 
from him: they held the powers of council of state of 
upper house of Assembly, like the English House of 
Lords, in the general court of supreme judges: as colonels, 
were county- lieutenants, naval officers in the customs 
department, collectors of the revenue and farmers of the 
King's quitrents."^ 

In commerce, wealth and power, the colony had made 
rapid strides, and when at Spotswood's arrival he found a 
few families "affecting to establish an aristocracy" he 
thought it necessary "to have a balance on the Bench and 
the Board." 

Whereas the great bvilk of the inhabitants were planters, 
that is, agriculturists, from this class arose many of the most 
distinguished citizens. The leading men were to some 
extent educated, often receiving the advantages from 

1 Wirt. Life of Henry, p. 39. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 209 

attendance at English Colleges. Intercourse, from depend- 
ence upon England, increased opportunities for advance- 
ment. Slaughter says the vestry books of men of wealth 
has led to the erroneous conclusion that they were mechanics^ 
and did the works with their own hands. 

By the freeholders the burgesses were elected; who con- 
stituted the Assembly, representing th"e English house of 
Commons.^ Previous to the year 1680 "the Council sat 
in the same House with the Burgesses, when the Lord 
Culpeper taking advantage of some disputes among them, 
procured the Council to sit apart from the Assembly, and 
they then became two distinct Houses. "* 

Upon the election of the burgesses, there was held a court 
of claims, where all who had any claims against the public 
might present them to the burgesses, together with any 
propositions or grievances; all of which were carried to the 
Assembly by the burgesses. The confusion in the laws 
and difficulty of knowing which were active, caused mis- 
takes in the county courts on the part of justices, who 
though commissioned officers, were not necessarily edu- 
cated in law; and the old stock of gentry who came from 
England were better acquainted with law and business of 
the world, than their sons and grandsons.^ In collections, 
while the county lev}^ for county expenses was assessed by 
justices of the peace, or magistrates, — the public levy was 
assessed by the Assembly, for the general expenses of the 
colon3^ 

One Assembly expelled two burgesses, for serving without 
compensation, which they considered as tantamount to 

2 The country consisting of dispersed plantations was unfavorable for mecbanics, 
tben called tradesmen."— Campbell, 350. 

3 Wirt. 

< Beverley Edition, 1722. 



210 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

bribery:'^ The high spirit of this same Assembly was out- 
raged by Spotswood's charge "that their election had been 
through the people's mistaken choice," an offensive speech 
calling forth a reproof from the board of trade to which 
he replied, ' ' that some men are always disatisfied , if the}' are 
not allowed to govern." 

The Assembly held itself entitled to all the rights and 
privileges of an English parliament: and while the governor 
might silence the opposition of the Council by official patron- 
age, he could not hold the burgesses in check, at all times. 

One of the Council appointed under Gov. Edmund 
Andros was Col. Daniel Parke, the son of "Rebecca Evelyn'' 
and ye Honorable Daniel Parke" (sometime Secretary of 
the Colony and a member of what was called the Long 
Parliament in respect of its duration from 1660 to 1676.) 

Colonel Parke married Lucy Ludwell and had two 
daughters, Lucy, who married Colonel William Byrd, and 
Francis who married John Custis. Their son John Parke 
Custis married Martha Dandridge, (these were great 
grand-parents of Mary Custis, Mrs. Robert E. Lee.) 

Col. Daniel Parke, member of Council, was collector 
and naval officer of the lower district of James river and 
escheator between York and Rappahannock rivers. 

He was "aid-de-camp to his grace, the Duke of Marl- 
borough, during the famous campaign in Germany in 1704, 
and had the honor to be sent by the Duke with the news of 

5 Campbell. 

^ George Evelyn,— the father of Rebecca,— born in London 1598, was a descend- 
ant of George Evelyn, who first brought the art of making gun-powder to perfec- 
tion in England. He emigrated to Maryland in 103(5 and was governor of Kent 
Island, Maryland, but returned to England, where he died. — Brown. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 211 

the glorious Battle of Blenheim," for which the Queen gave 
him hei' miniature set in diamonds and ;^i,ooo, and at the 
request of the Duke made him Governor-in-Chief and 
Captain-General of the Leeward Islands. Afterwards she 
sent him a magnificent silver service, in open work design 
and engraved with his coat of arms, pieces of which are 
still owned by his descendants. 

Colonel Parke's portrait, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 
1707, shewing the exquisite miniature, hangs with the 
Lee Collection of paintings in Washington and Lee Gallery. 

The "Life of Marlborough" by Wolseley Vol. I, p. 96 
contains a fac-simile of the original note preserved in the 
family archives at Blenheim, "one of the most curious 
memorials which perhaps exists" — the announcement of 
the victory at Blenheim. It runs thus, 

" I have not time to say more, but to beg you will give 
my duty to the Queen and let her know her army has had 
a glorious victory. M. Tallard and two other generals 
are in my coach, and I am following the rest. The rest, 
my aide-de-camp. Colonel Parke, will give her an account 
of what has passed. I shall do it, in a da}^ or two by another 
moreat large. 

MARLBOROUGH." 

This note to the Duchess, was written on a slip of paper 
which was evidently torn from a memorandum book, and 
which may have belonged to. some, commissar3^ Colonel 



'The battle which occurred at Blenheim, the Bavarian village upon the Danube, 
on August 13, 1704, is known l)y 3 difterent names. In P"rance it is known as 
Hockstet, in Germany as Plentheim and in England as Blenheim. Here the 
allied English, German. Dutch ant? Danes 52.000 under the Duke of Marlborough 
and Prince Eugene, defeated the French and Bavarians 5.5,000-60,000 under Tal- 
lard. The loss of the allies 11,000 to 12,000: That of the French and Bavarians 
supposed 40,000. Voltaire Seide de Louis, XIV, Vol. II, p. 127. 




Col. Daniel Parke. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 213 

Parke, the aid-de-camp, who was the bearer of this intelh- 
gence, requested to have the Queen's picture instead of the 
usual gratification of £500 and the request was granted." 

Wilham Bvrd succeeded Col. Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., in 
December, 1687, as auditor of accounts of his Majesty's 
revenue in Virginia, a place he held for seventeen years and 
of which his Mss. accounts were preserved. * Culpeper was 
then governor. 

Under Governor Andros' administration William Byrd 
was appointed a inember of the Council. In 1694 Colonel 
Byrd, of Westover, v/as sent, with several others, to Eng- 
land to defend Governor Andros against charges preferred 
against him by Commissary Blair, who was in London in 
the interest of the College. 

In the second year of Queen Anne March, 1703, Nicholson, 
Lieutenant-Governor held a meeting in "the Royal College 
of William and Mar\^." At this meeting he summoned the 
House of Burgesses, and after commanding the Hon. 
William Byrd and several others of her Majesty's honorable 
Council to administer the oath to the burgesses, he delivered 
an address in which he informed them that her most 
sacred Majesty had been graciously pleased to send her 
royal picture and arms for her colony and dominion, and 
he did not doubt that they would join in paying most 
humble and dutiful acknowledgements and thanks for the 
great honor and favor bestowed upon the country, * * 
and in praying that she might not only equal but outdo 
her royal predecessor. Queen Elizabeth of ever gracious 
memory." He added, 

"It is now within two years of a century since the 
colony's being first seated, at which time, if the Almighty 

' By Col. Byrd's assessment the quit-rents for 1703 amounted to £5745. 




Colonel William Byrd, Jr., of Westover. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 215 

and her Majesty shall be so pleased, I design to celebrate" 
a jubilee and that the inhabitants thereof may increase 
exceedingly and also abound with riches and honors and 
have extraordinary good success in all their undertakings 
but chiefly that they may be exemplary in their lives and 
conversations, loyal to the church of England and to the 
crown. I question not but you will most cordially join 
with me in hearty prayers for them. " 

The famous seat of Westover originally comprised 2,000 
acres of land patented by Capt. Thomas Paulett, January 15, 
1637, who dying in 1643, l^ft his Virginia property to his 
brother, Sir John Paulett, and he on April 17, 1665, sold 
the Westover estate of 1,200 acres, dwellinghouse and farm 
buildings, for ;iCi7o sterling to Theoderick Bland; from 
whom it descended to his sons. They in turn sold to Col. 
William Byrd, vSr., conveying it by deed bearing date 
February 14, 1688, for ;£3oo sterling and;/^io,ooo tobacco. 

Westover was at one time the seat of Charles City county, 
and the parish church was also in its limits. The famed 
mansion was built in 1737 by Colonel Byrd: in 1749 it was 
damaged b}^ fire but was restored. 

Col. William Byrd, Jr., inherited this fine estate from 
his father. The author of the Westover Mss., and an 
authority on Colonial history of his day, the library he 
left contained, besides, ancient records of much value to 
the state. 

"In the close of Spotswood's administration a contro- 
versy respecting boundaries was settled in a way to prevent 
continuance of embittered feeling. Settlements were for- 
bidden beyond the Nottoway and Meherrin rivers, till 
the commrs. appointed could survey the land and mark the 
bounds. Among the Virginia Commissioners was Col. 

' In 1807 occurred the first celebration. 



216 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



William Byrd, a gentleman of great wealth, talents and 
untiring industry. He kept a journal of the route and 
proceedings of the surveys. After this survey, the con- 
troversy was in a great measure ended, though legislation 
was^applied to the subject from time to time.^° 




Surveying Instruments of Col. Wm. Byed, 
used in marking the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina. 

The surveying instruments owned by Byrd are now ex- 
hibited at the Virginia Historical Society rooms. 

Colonel Byrd died in 1744, aged 70 years, and was buried 
at Westover. 

Keith mentions the practice of permitting the Governor 
to reside in England, giving him twelve hundred pounds 

10 Howison, Vol. I, p. 423. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 217 

for doing nothing, and his Heutenant eight hundred for 
doing all the work of Governor. The Earl of Orkney 
appointed after Nicholson, held the ofhce of governor for 
thirtv-six years without crossing the Atlantic. Edward 
Nott arrived in 1705 to fill this office of Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor, bringing a commission, from Queen Anne, as Gover- 
nor-General, in order to inspire the people with respect. 
He and his successors, content with the smaller portion 
of the salary, were allowed to retain the chief title, as 
giving them more authority with the people. 

During the fall after Nott's arrival, there was concluded 
a general revisal of the laws that had long been on hand. 
This governor procured the passage of an act providing 
for the building of a palace for the governor, and appro- 
priating ;£3,ooo to that object. 

During this year the college of William and Mary was 
burned: here the Assembly had held their sessions for 
several years. 

Governor Nott dying in August, 1706, (aged forty-nine 
years,) the Assembly erected to his memory a monument 
in the graveyard of Bruton church at Williamsburg. The 
inscription reads, "Under this marble rests ye ashes of his 
excellency, Edward Nott, late governor of this colony, 
who in his private character was a good Christian and in his 
public, a good Governor. By the prudence and justice 
of his administration he was deservedly esteemed a public 
blessing while he lived and when he died, it was a public 
calamity. "He departed this life the 23d day of August, 
1706, aged thirty-nine years. In grateful remembrance 
of whose many virtues, the General Assembly of this 
Colony have erected this monument." 

The policy of selecting military governors for Virginia, 



218 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

occasioned the appointment of Col. Alexander Spots- 
wood as deputy or lieutenant-governor vmder the commis- 
sion of Orkney. 

Bred in the array and uniting genius with energy, Spots- 
wood gained distinction under Marlborough in the battle 
of Blenheim, where he ser\'-ed as deputy quarter-master and 
where he received a dangerous wound. While governor 
of the Colony he would show his guests a trophy — brought 
from the battlefield — a four pound ball which had struck 
his coat. 

Bringing with him the right of Habeas Corpus "the most 
stringent curb that legislation ever imposed on tyranny "," 
hitherto denied Virginia, and heralded by his connection 
with the war, — which annihilated for a season the strength 
of France, — Spotswood's arrival was hailed with joy. 

This gentleman, "whose memory Virginia will ever 
cherish with gratitude and pride^^ " assumed the reigns of 
government on June lo, 17 lo, and had been in office but 
a short time, before he suggested plans for improvement. 
He concluded a treaty of peace with the ferocious tribes 
which had been drawn into the Tuscarora war, terrorizing 
the country: this left the frontier undisturbed by Indian 
incursions. A settlement of German Protestants, sent 
over by Queen Anne, had been effected under his auspices, 
in a hitherto unpeopled region, on the Rapidan river, at 
a village named after them, and here guided by him, many 
industries flourished. 

In his address to the Assembly, November 17, 1714, 
Spotswood announced the death of Queen Anne, and the 

■iiMacaulay. 
i2CampbeU. 




Gov. Alexander Spotswood 



220 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

succession of George I. — the first of the Guelphs on 
the English throne, though maternally a grandson of 
James I. 

Early in his administration, discovering a horse-pass, 
he effected a passage over the Blue Ridge, in commem- 
oration of which, he received from Georg.e I. the honor of 
knighthood and was presented with a miniature golden 
horseshoe, having upon it the motto of the order he had 
established. 

" Spots wood governed with almost universal content 
for thirteen years. The countiy was altered wonderfully 
and far more advanced and improved than in the whole 
century preceding. He built a fort called Fort Christina, 
where were instructed forty-seven Indian children, who 
loved and adored him. A law for the Regulation of the 
Indian Trade was projected by him whereby an easy provi- 
sion was made by a perpetual fund, for instructing the 
Indian Children in the principles of Christianity and it 
succeeded wonderfully, until some designing merchants 
in London, who conceived their particular interest to be 
affected by that law, procured a repeal thereof from Eng- 
land, which unhappily put an end to the only practicable 
scheme, that had yet been attempted for converting the 
Indians.'^ 

To Spotswood's knowledge of mathematics, the famous 
Octagon-Magazine, -an object of such interest now through 
its association with colonial times and scenes, owes its 
construction; he also rebuilt the college, and made improve- 
ments in the governor's house and gardens.^* 

A dispute occurred between the burgesses and the governor 
relative to the removal of the court of James City county 

13 Rev. Hugh Jones, "Present State of Virginia." 
i< Campbell, p. 384. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



221 



from Jamestown to Williamsburg. Again he offended the 
pride of the Council when "Colonel and member of his 
Majesty's Council of Virginia" (who were also members 
of the Assembly, judges of the highest court, and count}^- 
lieutenants over militia) stood for a provincial title of 
nobility. These causes displaying the haughty spirit of 







The Old Magazine. 

the Governor, occasioned the sending of anonymous letters 
to , England,'^ inveighing against him, and still another 
discord between Spotswood and the people was the question 
relating to the powers of the vestry, altogether resulting 
in the displacement in 1722 of the" accomplished governor." 
Spotswood held the office of postmaster-generaP® from 

i^CoLByrd went on a second mission to England; at the time when eight members 
of the Council, headed by Commissary Blair, complained that Spotswood had in- 
fringed the charter of the colony by associating inferior men with them in criminal 
trials. Failing as colonial agent against the governor, Byrd begged the Board of 
Trade to recommend forgiveness and moderation to both parties; which being done 
restored amicable relations between them.— Campbell. 

15 At the time Spotswood was deputy P. M. General and according to a regulation 
adopted by him the mail coming from the North arrived in Williamsburg weekly 
and William Paries was commissioned to convey it monthly from Williamsburg via 
Nansemond C. H., and Norfolk-town to Edenton, N. C. The general P. O. was at 
New Post, a few miles below Fredericksburg. — Campbell. 



222 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

1730 till 1739 for the colonies; this system was introduced 
into Virginia in 1 7 1 8. As governor, Spotswood had written 
to the board of trade, that "the people were made to believe 
the parliament could not lay any tax (as they called rates 
of postage) on them without the consent of the general 
Assembly. "^' 

Having been appointed to command troops, raised in 
the colonies for the attack upon Carthagena, Spotswood, 
now with the title of Major-General, was on the eve of 
embarking when his death occurred at Annapolis, June 7, 
1740. He is said to have left a historical account of the 
colony from the time of his arrival till near that of his 
death, to which Bancroft had access and refers in his 
history. This Mss. long remained in the possession of the 
family; but was "lent to an English geologist, Mr. Feather- 
stonaugh, travelling for scientific purposes in America, 
and is supposed (i860) to be still in Europe in his posses- 
sion.^"* 

From the history of Charles Campbell we gather a 
ver}^ full and interesting account of Spotswood's passage 
over the Blue Ridge mountains, the first complete discovery 
made of these highlands. 

Campbell gives the date 17 16, two years later th.an 
earlier histories state it to have been undertaken. "The 
Governor accompanied bv John Fontaine, — an ensign 
from the British army lately come to Virginia,— started 
from Williamsburg over the Appalachian Mountains, (then 
so called:) crossing the York at the Brick House, they 
lodged that night at the seat of Austin Moore, now Chelsea, 
on the Mattapony, a few miles above its junction with the 

1' CampbeU, p. 407. 
i^Howison, Vol. T., p. 418. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 223 

Pamunkey. On the following night they were hospitably 
entertained by Robert Beverley, the historian, at his 
residence in Middlesex. The Governor left his chaise^" 
there and mounted his horse fortherestof the journey , when 
Beverley accompanied him. On the 26th of August Spots- 
wood was joined by several other gentlemen. Besides Fon- 
taine and Beverley, these were Col. Robertson, Austin 
Taylor, Mason Brooke, and Captains Clouder and Smith ; two 
small companies of rangers, four Meherrin Indians, and 
servants; altogether about fifty persons. They carried 
with them a large number of riding and pack horses, abun- 
dant provisions and a variety of liquors. Having their 
horses shod, they left Germantown on August 29th and 
encamped that night three miles from Germanna. 

Aroused in the morning by the trumpet, they proceeded 
westward: at night they lay on the boughs of trees under 
tents. Thirty-six days after Spotswood had set out from 
Williamsburg, and on the 5th of September, a clear day 
at about one o'clock, the party after a toilsome ascent, 
reached the top of the mountain. As the company wound 
along, in perspective caravan line through the shadowy 
defiles, the trumpet for the first time awoke the echoes 
of the mountains. Here they drank the health of King 
George I. and all the royal family, on the highest summit, 
named by Spotswood Mt. George in honor of his Majesty ; 
the next in height, was named for the Governor, by the 
gentlemen of the expedition. 

Campbell gives the names of the variety of liquors they 
carried, — Virginia red and white wine, Irish usquebaugh, 
brandy, shrub, two kinds of rum, champagne, canary, cherry 
punch, cider, etc. 

''This chaise, or chariot, he advertises when preparing to leave Virginia, as having 
been loolced upon as one of the best made, handsomest and easiest in London. — 
Gazette. 



224 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"On the yth the rangers proceeded on a farther explora- 
tion and the rest of the company started homeward, arriv- 
ing at WilHamsburg on September 17th after six weeks' 
absence, having travelled, going and returning, 438 miles. "-" 

The Rev. Hugh Jones says for this expedition they had 
to provide a quantity of horse shoes, things seldom used 
in the eastern parts of Virginia, where there were no stones. 
Upon which account the Governor on his return presented 
each of his companions with a golden horse-shoe, some of 
which were covered with valuable stones, resembling heads 
of nails, with the inscription on one side "Sic juvat trans- 
cendere montes." Spotswood instituted an order called 
"Tramontane" for the purpose of encouraging gentlemen 
to venture backward and make discoveries and settlements; 
any one being entitled to wear this golden horse-shoe, who 
could prove that he had drank his Majesty's health on the 
top of Mount George. 

20 A poem (by Dr. F. O. Ticknor of Augusta, Georgia), has been written commem- 
orating the knights "who rode with Spotswood round the land 
And Raleigh round tlie seas. ****** 
Who climbed the blue Virginia hills 
Against embattled foes, 
And planted there in vallies fair 
The lily and the rose." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 225 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Rival Claimants. ' 

Besides the several unpleasantnesses with the mother 
country — the result of restrictions and exactions — and 
distressing interruptions through invasions of savages, 
there were other -" trying of conclusions" to distract the 
attention of the colonists from carrying on their work. 

Preceding them in America, had come some of the Latin 
races of Southern Europe, now well established in the 
country, and claiming priority of possession. 

Spaniards were southeast of them. Frenchmen north- 
west of them, and there seemed, a fair chance of check- 
mating the bold invaders of the Powhatan territory. 

Spain's jealousy of England's acquirements along the 
shore of the Chesapeake, became actively aroused through 
the reports of her ministers to their king. The plottings 
of these agents and their intrigues at the English court, 
for the frustration of Virginia plans, by diverting interest 
from the American enterprise into other directions, Alex. 
Brown gives in detail. 

This author brings to our notice "An accurate descrip- 
tion of how Virginia is situated," in which these plotters 
against competition in the New World, undertake to 
enlighten the vSpanish King concerning Virginia's topogra- 
phy. 

"Virginia is situated on firm land on the continent of 
the West Indies * * * * j^; has three streams, and 
on one of these are plantations or fortifications. The river 



226 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

is called Zanagadoa; it is twelve fathoms deep and a 
hundred miles, more or less, long. There is no other harbour, 
but this they call Jamestown, which means Jacob's Town. 

"It is very important that your Majesty should cominand 
that an end be put to those things done in Virginia. If 
an end is made of those who are now there, which can be 
easily done, they will not dare go on with their plans." 

The colonists seemed to be on the lookout for attacks 
from Spaniards, for when the seven vessels rode through 
the storm and arrived in Virginia in August, i6og, so con- 
siderable a fleet caused alarm, and believing them to be 
Spaniards, the president (Smith) prepared to greet them 
warmly with shot from the fort: the Indians came forward 
and offered their aid in defending the settlement. And 
"in the first days of 1613 the English government was in 
expectation of a Spanish invasion and on January loth the 
Council ordered the sheriffs to search the houses of recusants 
for arms. But the Spaniards persuaded themselves that 
the colony would certainly die out of itself, and they, 
resolving to leave the matter to diplomac}^ rather than to 
arms, replaced their embassador in England b}^ one of the 
ablest diplomatists in their service." 

The diplomatist, Molina, was one of the passengers 
aboard the Treasurer, which conveyed Pocahontas to 
England. 

The Virginia Historical Register of 1848 makes known 
a blind prophecy having a lucky hit (through the repub- 
lication of a pamphlet published in 1648) when the futility 
of the attempt to undermine English plans was demon- 
strated convincingly to the stoutest-hearted plotter. 

This pamphlet published in London in 1649 contains 
the prophecy of the war with Mexico and the West Indies, 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 227 

so far ahead of the actual occurrence of those events 
as to be indeed remarkable: "It is well known that our 
English plantations have had little countenance, nay, that 
oar statesmen (when time was) had store of Gondemore's 
gold to destroy and discontinue that plantation of Virginia, 
and he affected it in a great part by dissolving the Company, 
wherein most of the nobility, gentry, corporate cities and 
most merchants of England were interested and engaged, 
after the expense of some ;/^i 00,000. For Gondemar did 
affirm to his friends that he had conmiission from his master, 
the King of Spain, to destroy that plantation ; 'for' said he, 
'should they thrive and go on increasing as they have done, 
under that popular Lord of Southampton, my master's 
West Indies, and his Mexico would shortly be visited b}^ 
sea and land, from those planters in Virginia.' " 

"This prediction has been verified almost to the letter 
in the hostilities against Mexico, when that ill-starred 
country has been actually visited or invaded 'by sea and 
by land,' by those 'planters' (or sons of planters) from 
Virginia, Taylor and Scott, wdth many of their men also; 
the first attacking it by land near the Rio, Grande and the 
last by sea at Vera Cruz. A still stronger case might be 
made of coincidence by taking the term Virginia in all the 
latitude of its meaning in the time of James I. when it was 
synonymous with British America and embraced a much 
larger part of the United States than at present (1848.) 

"Count Gondemar was a very wary statesman who looked 
far ahead into the future with a sagacit}' that resembled 
foresight. It will be obsei^^ed that the other part of the 
prophecy remains to be fulfilled."' 



1 Virginia Historical Register, 18.50. 



228 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 




Gen. Winfield Scott, 

Commander-in-Chief U. S. Army, bom in Petersburg, Virginia, June 13, 1785- 
Conspicuous in war with Mexico, 1848. 

The truth of this prophecy became the daughter of 
time when descendants of planters, or of settlers of the 
various colonies "visited by land and sea" the Spanish 
West Indies in i8g8, and wrested Cuba from the grasp of 
oppression. 

"Spain had acquired the ascendenc}' in the English 
Court and it was believed by some that James w^as even 
willing to sacrifice English interests in the colonies for the 
benefit of those of Spain' ' Campbell cites a letter from 
the Rev. Jonas vStockham, a minister in Virginia, writ- 
ten to the Council of the Virginia Company in May, 

2 pp. 176-7. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 229 

1621,2 in which he says "There be many ItaHanated and 
Spaniolized Enghshmen envies our prosperities, and by- 
all their ignominious scandals they can devise, seeks 
to dishearten what they can those that are willing to further 
this glorious enterprise. 

"To such I wish, according to the decree of Darius, that 
whosoever is an enemy to our peace and seeking either by 
monopolical patents or by forging unjust tales to hinder 
our welfare — that his house were pulled down and a pair 
of gallows made of the wood and he hanged-on them in the 
place." 

In 1633 "the A''irginians were all under arms expecting 
a Spanish fleet." 

A cause of waning interest in 1613 more injurious than 
Spanish intrigue, to the Virginia enterprise was an inter- 
est in the venture, nearer at hand, to colonize north- 
western Ireland. 

"A new settlement grew o\it of a patent dated March 
29, 1613, by which James the First incorporated the Irish 
Society under the name of 'The Governor and Assistants 
of the New Plantation of Ulster within the realm of Ireland.' 
A new county was erected which uniting the old name of 
Derrv with its new Masters, the Corporations and Com- 
panies of London, is now called London-Deny." This 
diverted English capital, so that development of Virginia 
country was thereafter largety dependant upon individual 
investment and the industry of the colonists; for in place 
of the corporations formerly interested in the Virginia 
scheme, there now grew up the "Twelve Livery Companies 
of London" which had contributed ;/f6o,ooo towards the 
new Irish settlement, and which now turned their attention 
to these newer lands of promise, more easily managed, 
because more accessible.-' 

3 Cited by Brown. 



230 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

The French pursued another mode of estabhshing 
their claims than by ingratiating themselves with court 
attendants. 

In 1749 they deposited under ground at the mouth of 
the Kanawha and other places, leaden plates on which was 
inscribed the claim of Louis XV., to the whole country 
watered by the Ohio and its tributaries. England claimed 
the same territory upon the ground of the treaty at Lan- 
caster, and cession made by the Iroquois Indians. From 
the first discovery of Virginia, England had claimed the 
country to the north and northwest, from ocean to ocean, 
and that the region in question was the contiguous back 
country of her settlements. The title of the native tribes 
inhabiting the country was not considered by either. 

One of the French plates was found in 1846 deposited 
a few inches below the surface of the earth at the confluence 
of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers. A curious relic' 
shewing one of the modes adopted by Louis XV. for assert- 
ing and perpetuating his dominion over New France, the 
large extent of country embraced in the region lying west 
of the Alleghany chain of Mountains and extending from 
Canada to New Orleans.* 

The plate is a fiat piece of lead twelve inches long and 
eight inches wide and about an eighth of an inch thick. 
The inscription, somewhai: worn, is in old French words all 
in capitals and translated, reads, "In the year 1749 in the 
reign of Louis XV. King of France, we, Coloran, Comman- 
dant of a Detachment sent by the Duke Calissoniere, Com- 
mandant-General of New France, to re-establish tranquilitv 
in some savage villages of these cantons, have enterred this 

< Virginia Historical Register, 1848. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 231 

Plate at the entry of the river Chinodahichetha,'' (or Beau- 
tiful River of the Woods,) the i8th day of August near the 
river Ohio, otherwise Belle Riviere, for a monument of the 
renewal of possession which we have taken of the said 
river Ohio and of all those which flow into it and of all the 
lands on both sides of the sources of the said rivers, as the 
preceding kings of France have, or ought to have enjoyed 
them, and as they are maintained by arms and by treaties, 
and especially by the treaties of Riswick, of Utrecht and 
of Aix-la-Chapelle. " This plate is now in the possession 
of the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond; presented 
through Major Laidley. 

6 Kanawha river. 



232 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Stone Inscriptions. 

Curious specimens of inscriptions are to be seen, marking 
the styles of different periods. The earHest we find is 
recorded b}^ Charles Campbell, who discovered it on a paper 
in the State Library at Richmond, — while turning over 
the leaves of Smith's History of Virginia, — and published 
it in the Southern Literary Messenger, October, 1843, 
Howe supposed this to be the oldest monumental inscrip- 
tion in the United States. From, the earliness of the date 
it is concluded that Lieutenant Herris was one of Smith's 
comxpanions in a voyage of exploration.^ 

This notice was " correctly copied by Thos. Hurd " (the first 
to draw attention to the tomb) "in October 23rd, 1837:" 
it reads, "Here lies ye body of Lieut. William Herris, who 
died May ye i6th, 160S, aged 065 years; by birth a Britain, 
a good soldier, a good husband and neighbor. " Hurd 
explains that this inscription was handsomely car\'ed on a 
tombstone, of the usual size, standing on the banks of the 
Neabsco Creek in Fairfax county, Virginia, and "its. 
duration to this time is 229 years." 

An inscription on an old tombstone in a burying-ground in 
Surry county at Four Mile Tree tells that "Here lyeth buried 
the body of Alice Miles, Daughter of John Miles of Branton 

1 In 1624 a law was first enacted for impaling a place for burial of the dead. 




A Mourning Locket, 
)r" Brooch of the i8th Century. 



234 i?l'-TF.4V'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

in Hereford — Gent; and late wife of Mr. George Jordan 
in Virginia, who departed this life the 7th of January, 1650. 

"Reader, her dust is here enclosed, who was of witt and grace com- 
posed. 

Her life was virtuous during breath — but highly glorious in her 
death. " 

" On Temple Farm, one and a half miles from Yorktown, 
there are old remains indicating it was the site of an ancient 
settlement: near here are broken monuments, and one 
bearing heraldic insignia is inscribed to 'Maj. Wm. 
Gooch^ of this Parish' who 'dyed Octob. 29, 1655;' with 
the memorial lines, 

"Within this tomb, there doth interred lie, 
No shape but substance, true nobility. 
Its self though young, in years but twenty-nine 
Yet graced with virtues, morall and divine; 
The church from him did good participate 
In counsell rare fit to adorn a state. "3 

On the Pembroke farm, near Hampton is an ancient 
montiment of black miarble, six feet long and three wide, 
surmounted with a coat of arms, and the inscription, 

"This stone was given by His Excellency Francis Nichol- 
son, Esq., Lieutenant and Governor-General of Virginia 
in memory of Peter Heyman, Esq., grandson to Sir Peter ■ 
Hey man of Summerfield in ye county of Kent — he was 
collector of ye customs in ye lower district of James river, 
and went voluntarily on board ye king's ship Shoreham, 
in pursuit of a pyrate who greatly infested this coast: 
after he had behaved himself seven hours, with undaunted 
courage, was killed with a small shot, ye 29 day of April 

2 Probably ancestor of Gov. WilUam Uoocn, (1727.) 
:i"Howe, p. 523. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 235 

1 700. In the engagement he stood next the Governor upon 
the quarter-deck, and was here honorabl}" interred by his 
order. "4 

An old tablet in Bruton Church, Williamsburg, 
tells that " Near this marble lyes ye Hon'ble Daniel Parke 
of ye county of Essex, Esq., who was one of his Maj'ties 
Counsellors and some time secretary of the colony of 
Virg'a. He dyed ye 6th of March Anno 1679. His other 
felicityes were crowned by his happy marriage with Rebekka 
the daughter of George Evelyn of the county of Surry, Esq. 
She dyed the 2d of January, 1672, at Long Ditton and left 
behind her a most hopeful progeny." 

In Bruton church there is also an old tablet inscribed to 
the "Memory of Dr. William Cocke, an English physician, 
born of reputable parents at Sudsbury in Suffolk, 1672, and 
educated at Queen's College, Cambridge. 

"He was learned and polite, of undisputed skill in his 
profession, of unbounded generosity in his practice, which 
multitudes yet alive can testify. He was many years of 
the Council and Secretary of State for this Colony, in the 
reign of Queen Anne and King George. He died suddenly 
while sitting a judge upon the bench of the General Court 
in the Capitol. MDCCXX. His honorable friend, Alex- 
ander Spotswood, Esq., then governor, with the principal 
gentlemen of the country attended his funeral and, weeping, 
saw the corpse interred at the west side of the altar in this 
church. " 

There is to be found"' in Northampton county a 
very singular inscription upon the tomb of the Hon. John 
Custis, a gentleman of great opiilence, who died about 1750, 
leaving dit ections in his will for the erection of his monument 

* Howe p. 249. 

s Howe's Antiquities, p. 405. 



236 BY-iVAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"Under this marble tomb lies the body 
Of the Hon. John Custis, Esq., 
Of the City of Williamsburg 
and parish of Bruton 
Formerly of Hunger's parish on the 
Eastern Shore 
Of Virginia and county of Northampton 
Aged 71 years and yet lived but seven years, 
which was the space of time he kept 

A Bachelor's home at Arlington, 
On the Eastern Shore of Virginia." 

(Opposite side of slab) 

"Put on his tomb by his own positive orders. Wm. 
Cosley Man, in Fenchurch-street fecit, London. 

The Virginia Gazette pubhshed an epitaph on Miss M. 
Thacker, daughter of Col. Edwin Thacker of Middlesex 
county, who died September, 1739. 

"Pensively pay the tribute of a tear 

For one that claims our common grief lies here. 

Good natured, prudent, affable and mild, 

In sense a woman, in deceit a child. 

Angels, like us, her virtues shall admire, 

And chant her welcome through the Heavenly choir! "* 

The tomb of Col. Isham Randolph, Member of the 
House of Burgesses, November, 1738, and May, 1740. who 
died on Turkey Island in 1742, bears the following inscrip- 
tion : 

"Sacred to the Memory of Col. Isham Randolph of 
Dunginess in Goochland County, Adjutant-General of this 
Colony. He was third son of William Randolph and Mary, 
his wife. The distinguishing qualities of the Gentleman 
he possessed in an eminent degree. To justice, probity 

« Howe p. 332. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 237 

and honour so firmly attached that no view of secular 
interest or Worldly advantage, no discouraging frowns of 
fortune could alter his steady purpose of heart. By an 
easy Compliance and obliging deportment, he knew no 
enemy, but gained Many friends, thus in his meriting an 
universal esteem He died as universally lamented November 
1742 age 57. Gentle Reader go and do likewise."^ 

Near the ruins of the church at Yorktown is the tomb of 
the Hon. William Nelson, — the father of Gov. Thomas 
Nelson, — a tomib beautifully ornamented with carved work, 
bearing this inscription "here lies the body of the Hon. 
Wm. Nelson, late president of his Majesty's Council in 
this Dominion, in whom the love of man and the love of 
God so restrained and enforced each other and so invig- 
orated the mental powers in general as not only to defend 
him from the vices and follies of his age and countn,^ but 
also to render it a matter of difficult decision in what part 
of laudable conduct he most excelled; whether as a neigh- 
bor, gentleman or a magistrate; whether in the graces of 
hospitality, charity or piety. Reader if you feel the spirit 
of that exalted ardor which aspires to the felicity of con- 
scious virtue, animated by these stimulating and divine 
admonitions, perform the task and expect the distinction 
of the righteous man. Obit. 19th of Nov., Anno 
Domini, 1772 cetatis 61."^ 

'Virginia Council Journals, (from Virginia Historical Society Quarterly). 
8 Howe, p. 521. 



238 BY WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XX. 

Awakening of National Genius. 

The time was drawing near when the accumulated forces 
of upheaval would burst before England's astonished gaze; 
in the meantime the colonists were unconsciously preparing 
themselves for self dependence, with the change of govern- 
ment. 

Among other industries, with which they were experi- 
menting, was the making of wine of superior quality, upon 
which premiums were offered. The list of subscribers to 
the premiums given in the vear 1762 in the order of their 
subscription mav be found in full in Henning's vStatiites; 
"William Cabell, Jr., £ i John Fleming £ i 

Augustine Claiborne 2 William Fleming i 

Thomas Cla3^ton 2 Thomas Whiting 2 

Alexander Rose 2 George Washington 2 

Peter Whiting 2 and others. 

"November, 1762, 3rd year of George III. Rex." 

In 1765 the colonists imposed upon themselves a number 
of self-denials by way of testifying their determination to 
resist tmjust taxation.' "We will eat no lamb. We will 
wear no mourning at fimerals. We will import no British 
goods." The inhabitants set up looms for weaving their 
clothes, deciding that they would go upon manufactures. 
"We will have home-spun markets of linens and woolens. " 
These resolutions passed from mouth to mouth, till thev found 
their way across the Atlantic andalarmed the King in council. 

1 Bancroft. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 239 

"Ladies of the first fortiane shall set the example of 
wearing home-spun. It will be accounted a virtue in them 
to wear a garment of their own spinning. A little attention 
to these manufacturers will make us ample amends for the 
distresses of the present day and render us a great and happy 
people." 

While war was in the land and Virginia bearing her 
part, some of her sons were intent upon promoting the 
progress of science within her borders. 

A society was formed, to collect and publish matter which 
would aid the inquirer into science; to study chemistry 
and to apply it to the agriculture of Virginia; — a society 
continuing active during the war, throughout which time 
a comm.ittee was at work and chose several articles of un- 
common excellence, intended for the press. 

Subsequent events caused the decline of the society of 
which John Page was president and Thomas Jefferson, the 
leading member. Through their efforts laws were passed 
in the legislature to aid manufactures, and general educa- 
tion; for the building of iron and salt-works and for en- 
couraging those who engaged in them. Rev. James Madi- 
son, after.wards bishop, was Secretary of the Society. 

In a letter from John Page to Arthur Lee,^ March 12, 1778, 
Williamsburg, there is mention of this society for the 
encouragement of arts, sciences, etc. "I take this oppor- 
tunity of informing you that you were elected a correspond- 
ing Member of our society for promoting useful Knowledge, 
at one of our last Meetings — which have been for sometime 
discontinued, the critical Situation of our Country engrossing 



2 Minister of the U. S. to the court of Versailles, 1776, Arthur Lee assisted in nego- 
tiating the treaty with France. Recalled 1779.— Howe, 519. 



240 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



the Attention of all the Members. However we have 
made some Progress in our Business, having received 
some valuable Astronomical Observations, Meteorological 
Journals and other Papers, Models of Machines, etc., etc.: 
and are collecting Materials for compleating the natural 
History of Virginia. 

"Not only the Arts and Sciences, but Manufactures 
and Agriculture are objects of our attention. 

" By the next Opportunity 1 will send you some Extracts 
from some of our Papers. 

"The Society will think themselves happ}^ to receive 
anything you may think proper to communicate. I am, 
dear Sir, Your affectionate h'ble Servant, 

JOHN PAGE,o/ Rosewell."^ 




Medal Presented to the Inventor of a Threshing Machine. 

This Philosophical Society presented a medal in 1779, ^^^ 
the model of a threshing-machine to John Hobday, 



3 Writing of Rosewell, the home of John I'age, Governor of Virginia in 1802, Camp- 
bell describes it as nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's Creek; and joining the site 
of Powhatan's residence at Werowocomoco, also owned by Page, who because of 
the difficulty of proonuncing the Indian name, called it Shelly, from the accumu- 
lation of shells found there. Article in Southern Literary Messenger, 1845. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 241 

designer, — which is now on exhibition at the rooms of the 
Virginia Historical Society, and, by permission, is repro- 
duced here. 

This represents Agriculture presenting the medal to 
Hobday, with the motto "Honos Alitartes" on one face, 
and upon the reverse the machine is represented. 

Doubtless there may be discovered other work of this 
society * (which received its first impulse from professors 
of William and Mary College) — intermingled with the mass 
of unknown, because unpublished, Revolution ar}'' history; 
and the connection of distinguished actors helps to confirm 
such a supposition. 

But a fearful engrossment possessed the people, filling 
thought and mind, obscuring all other things: the swad- 
dling Protest, evoked a century before and apparently 
strangled by the strengthened grip of regal authority, now, 
fully developed, came forth, Minerva-like, from the giant 
head of united Resistance, called into being by the magic 
of that Liberty which later was enthroned as the American 
goddess. 

< John Clayton, botanist and author of "Flora Virginica," was in 1773 president 
of the "Virginia Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge."— Va. His. Mag., 
edited by Jefferson Wallace, October, 1891. 



242 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

CHAPTER XXI. 
The Father of His Country. 

The native county of Washington was Westmoreland; 
a county, called the "Athens of America," because of the 
number of renowned men born within her borders, 
which, by an act of the Assembly, of July, 1653, was ordered 
to mark its bounds as follows: "from the Machoactoke 
river, where Mr. Cole lives, and upwards to the falls of 
the great river Potowmake, about the Nescostin's towne. " 

It is thought that this act indicates that the county was 
previously in existence, but it has not been ascertained at 
what time it was taken from the older county of North- 
umberland, at first called Chickawane or Chickoun, which 
was established in 164S and declared by an act of that year 
to contain the neck of land between Rappahannock and 
Potomac Rivers.* 

The birth place^ of Washington was destroyed previous 
to the Revolution, but the spot on which it stood has inter- 
est from association and natural beauty, commanding a 
view of the Marjdand shore, of the majestic Potomac and 
its coiirse towards Chesapeake Bay. The house was a low- 
pitched, single-storied frame building with four rooms on 
the first floor and an enormous chimney, at each end, on 
the outside. 

1 Howe. 

^ A stone marking the site of Washington's birthplace has inscribed upon it "Here 
on the nth of Feb. (O. S. ), 1732, George Washington was bom:" placed there by 
G. W. Ciistis, Esq. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 243 

f^The first notable acts of Washington were in connection 
with his surveying, which introduced him to Fairfax and 
led to his knowledge of the country; and this, in turn, to 
his appointment as a leader in the French and Indian war. 
The disregard of his advice as guide, is generally accepted 
as a cause of defeat in what was called the Braddock war.^ 




Greenway Court, Home of Lord Fairfax. 

His biographies tell of his appointment as surveyor and 
through the work, his intimacy with Lord Fairfax and 
entertainment at Greenway Court. The entry* of his 
commission is still on record in a volume at the clerk's 
office of Culpeper county: " 20th Juty, 1749 (O. S.), George 
Washington, Gent., produced a commission from the 
President and Master of William and Mary College appoint- 
ing him to be surveyor of this county, which was read and 
thereupon he took the usual oaths to his majesty's person 

' On his mission, in 1754, of remonstrance against French encroachments' 
Washington kept a journal which was published in colonial and English news- 
papers. 

••County court records. 



244 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

and government and took and subscribed the abjuration 
oath and test and then took the oath of surveyor according 
to law." 

From the time of his engagement in the war under 
Braddock, he began to attract attention to himself, and, 
even in this defeat, his conduct marked his ability: and 
remarkable prophecies are to be found in the tributes paid 
him then by whites and Indians. 

We learn that after Braddock's defeat the consternation 
was so general, many seemed ready to desert the country: 
such a prospect called for prompt measures looking to 
prevention. On the 20th of July, 1755, the Rev. Samuel 
Davies delivered a discourse upon patriotism, declaring 
that Christians should be patriots. "To give the greater 
weight to what I may say, I may take the liberty to tell 
you that I have as little to lose as any of you. If I con- 
sulted my safety or my temporal interest, I should soon 
remove with m},^ family to Great Britain, or the Northern 
Colonies where I have had very inviting offers. Nature 
has not formed me for a military life, nor furnished me 
with any great degree of fortitude and courage, yet I must 
declare that after the most calm and impartial deliberation, 
I am determined not to leave my country while there is any 
prospect of defending it." 

In a note appended to a later discourse, — delivered before 
Captain Overton's Company of Independent Volunteers, 
the first raised in Virginia after Braddock's defeat, — Davies 
says "as a remarkable instance I may point out to the 
public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I 
cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved, in so 
signal a manner, for some important] service to his 
country."^ 

' Campbell, p. 483. "Dejection and alarm vanished under the eloquence of Davies." 




First Portrait ok "Washington-, by Peali 



246 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

When Washington went to the Ohio in 1770, to explore 
the wild lands near the mouth of the Kanawha, he met an 
aged chief, who told him, through an interpreter, that at 
the battle of Braddock's Field he singled him out as a 
conspicuous object, fired his rifle at him many times and 
directed his young men to do the same, but none of their 
balls took effect. The chief was then persuaded that the 
young hero was under the especial guardianship of the Great 
Spirit and ceased firing at him. He now came a great way 
to pay homage to the man who was the particular favorite 
of heaven, and who could never die in battle. 

During the lull between wars Washington gave attention 
to his private affairs, and the vast body of land, he had 
acquired in the western country, we find advertised for sale, 
a few years later, in a copy of the "Maryland Journal and 
Baltimore Advertiser Vol. I., N umber i, August 20th, 1773," 
of which a memorial reprint was made in Baltimore, 1873. 
The extract — from the original issue — is as follows. 

MOUNT VERNON IN VIRGINIA, JULY 15, 1773. 

The Subscriber having obtained Patents for upwards of 
TWENTY THOUSAND Acres of LAND on the Ohio and 
Great Kanhawa (Ten Thousand of which are situated on 
the banks of the first-mentioned river, between the mouths 
of the two Kanhawas, and the remainder on the Great 
Kanhaivha or A^ew River from the mouth, or near it. upwards 
in one continued survey) proposes to divide the same into 
any sized tenements that may be desired and lease them 
upon moderate terms, allowing a reasonable nuliiber of 
years rent free, provided, within the space of two years 
from next October, three acres for every fifty contained in 
each lot and proportionably for a lesser quantity, shall 
be cleared, fenced, and tilled; and that by or before the 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 247 

time limited for the commencement of the first rent, five 
acres for every hundred and proportionably, as above 
shall be enclosed and laid down in good grass for meadow; 
and moreover, that at least fifty good fruit trees for like 
quantity of land shall be planted on the Premises. Any 
person inclinable to settle on these lands may be more 
fully informed of the terms by applying to the subscriber, 
near Alexandria, or in his absence to Mr. LUND WASH- 
INGTON; and would do well in communicating their 
intentions before the ist of October next, in order that a 
sufficient number of lots may be laid off to answer the 
demand. 

"As these lands are among the first which have been sur- 
veyed in the part of the country they lie in, it is almost 
needless to premise that none can exceed them in luxuriance 
of soil, or convenience of situation, all of them lying upon 
the banks either of the Ohio or Kanhawa, and abounding 
with fine fish and wild fowl of various kinds as also in most 
excellent meadows, many of which (by the bountiful hand 
of nature) are in their present state almost fit for the 
scythe. From every part of these lands, water carriage 
is now had to Fort Pitt by an easy communication ; and 
from Fort Pitt, up the Monongahela to Redstone, vessels of 
convenient burthen may and do pass continually, from 
whence by means of Cheat River and other navigable 
branches of the Monongahela, it is thought the portage to 
Potowmack may and will be reduced within the compass 
of a few miles to the great ease and convenience of the 
settlers, in transporting the produce of their land? to 
market. 

"To which may be added that as patents have now actually 
passed the seals for the several tracts here offered to be 



248 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

leased, settlers on them may cultivate and enjoy the lands 
in peace and safety, notwithstanding the unsettled counsels 
respecting a new colony on the Ohio: and as no right 
mone}^ is to be paid for these lands and quitrent of two 
shillings sterling a hundred demandable some years hence 
only, it is highly presumable that they will always be held 
upon a more desirable footing than where both these are 
laid on with a heavy hand. 

"And it may not be amiss further to observe, that if the 
scheme for establishing a new government on the Ohio, in 
the manner talked of should ever be effected these must be 
among the most valuable lands on it, not only on account 
of the goodness of soil and the other advantages above 
enumerated but from their contiguity to the seat of govern- 
ment which more than probable will be fixed at the mouth 
of the Great Kanhawa. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON" 

From the time its owner was placed at the head of the 
American army, this name — standing for self-sacrificing 
patriotism, good generalship and wise council — must be 
written in Capitals. As the din and distress of outrageous 
warfare spread apace over their devoted land, the enthu- 
siasm of the people was eager to show honor to one towards 
whom all looked, with unbounded confidence, for deliver- 
ance. 

A county in Virginia, — organized the first month 
of the new year, after the establishment of the Common- 
wealth, — had thp honor bestowed on it of being the first in 
the United States to commemorate the name of the countr}' 's 
hero: the first court for which was ordered to be held at 
"Black's Fort" January" 28, 1777. Till 1786, Washington 
county embraced within its limits all southwestern 
Virginia, beyond the Montgomery line and included parts 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 249 

of Grayson, Wythe, Tazewell, all of Smyth, Scott, Russell, 
Lee and its present limits. Of the distinguished citizens, 
Gen. William Campbell, of King's mountain fame, was a 
native of this county. 

Among the records of the countv are many telling of 
engagements with the Cherokee tribe, who were completely 
defeated in their own mode of warfare, and thereby 
massacre upon the frontier settlements prevented. Col. 
Arthur Campbell commanded an expedition against them, 
of 700 mounted riflemen, the first experiment of thus attack- 
ing Indians, which on this occasion proved successful. 
After this expedition a message wjis sent to the chiefs and 
warriors, telling them if they were disposed to make peace, 
they must send six of their head men to the agent. Major 
Martin, at the Great Island, within two moons, so as to 
give him time to meet them with a flag guard on Holston 
River, at the boundarv' line. "To the wives and children 
of those men of your nation who protested against the war, 
if they are willing to take refuge at the Great Island until 
peace is restored, we will give a supply of provisions to keep 
them alive. 

"Warriors, listen attentively: if we receive no answer 
until the time mentioned expires, we shall conclude that 
you intend to continue our enemies. We will then be 
compelled to send another strong force into your country, 
prepared to remain in it as a conquered country, without 
making any compensation." 

"Signed at Kai-a-tee, January .4th, 1781." 

The Indians were now desirous of negotiating with the 
proper authorities, and under a commission issued, entered 
into a treaty restoring peace and establishing the limits, 
between Virginia, North Carolina and the Indian tribes,— 
which was concluded in the year 1782. 



250 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

During a critical time of the Revolution, which tried the 
souls of the patriots, Washington, in a letter to Mr. Mason 
expressed something of his anxiet}^, comparing the condi- 
tion of the country to a clock out of order. "A fatal 
policy prevails in most of the States, of employing their 
ablest men at home in posts of honor or profit, lamentable 
till the great national interests are fixed upon a solid basis. 
To me it appears no unjust simile to compare the affairs 
of this great continent to the mechanism of a clock, each 
State representing some one or other of the smaller parts 
of it which they are endeavoring to put in fine order, 
without considering how useless and unavailing their 
labor unless the great wheel or spring which is to set the 
whole in motion, is also well attended to and kept in good 
order. 

"1 allude to no particular State nor do I mean to cast 
reflections upon any one of them ; nor ought 1 to do so upon 
their representatives, but it is a fact that much business of 
a trifling nature and personal concernment withdraws 
attention from matters of great national moment at this 
critical period requiring close attention and application. 
Every man desiring the liberty of the country and wishing 
its rights established now looks to men of ability to come 
forth and save the country * * * * 

"That administration, (England) a little while ago had 
resolved to give the matter up and negotiate a peace with 
us upon almost an}^ terms but I shall be much mistaken 
if they do not now from the present state of the currency, 
dissensions and other circumstances, push matters to the 
extremest extremity. 

"Nothing, 1 am convinced, but the depreciation of our cur- 
rency, has fed the hopes of the enemy and kept the British 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 251 

Arms in America to this day. They do not scruple to 
declare this themselves and add that we shall be our own 
conquerors.^ 

GEORGE WASHINGTON." 

The effect of the news of the captvire of Cornwallis' 
Army was to cause universal thanksgiving and rejoicing. 
"British animosity to the Americans led them often to 
wanton destruction of what they could neither use nor 
carry off. By their means, thousands had been involved 
in distress. 

"The troops under Cornwallis had spread waste and ruin 
over the face of all the country for 400 miles on the seacoast, 
and for 200 miles to the westward. The reduction of such 
an armv occasioned transports of joy in the breasts of the 
whole body of people. 

"Well authenticated testimony asserts that the nerves 
of some were so agitated as to produce convxilsions and that 
at least one man expired under the tide of pleasure which 
flowed in upon him, when informed of his lordship's 
surrender." 

"Gen'l Washington, on the day after the stirrender, 
ordered 'that those who were under arrest should be set at 
Hbertv.' His orders closed with that for divine service 
which 'shall be performed tomorrow." 

Congress, on receiving the official account of the great 
events which had taken place at Yorktown, resolved to go in 
procession to church and return public thanks to Almighty 
God for the advantage which had been gained. 

After the cessation of hostilities and quiet was settled, 
all participants received from Washington their mead of 
praise. The Rev. Lewis Craig led the travelling church, 

s Virginia Historical Register. 



252 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

two hundred members of the Baptist persuasion, through 
the Wilderness in 1781. Washington said these people 
were the firm friends of civil liberty and the persevering 
promoters of our glorious Revolution.^ 

Peace being at last established and the army preparing 
to return to their homes, "The time had arrived, when 
Washington was to bid a final adieu to his companions in 
arms, to many of whom he was bound by the strongest ties 
of friendship and for all of whom he felt a lively gratitude 
and sincere regard. " 

This afliectionate interview took place on the 4th of 
December. 

At noon, the principal officers of the army assembled 
at Frances' Tavern, soon after which the beloved com- 
mander entered the room. 

His emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling 
a glass v/ith water he turned to them and said, "with a 
heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. 
I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your former ones have been glorious 
and honorable. " 

Having drank he added "I cannot come to each of you 
to take my leave but should be obliged, if each of you will 
come and take me by the hand." 

General Knox, being nearest, turned to him ; Washington, 
incapable of utterance, grasped his hand, and embraced 
him. In the same affectionate manner he took leave of 
each succeeding officer. The tear of sensibility was in 
every eye and not a word was articulated to interrupt 
the dignified silence and tenderness of the scene. ^ 

A society, called the "Cincinnati," was formed by Wash- 
ington and his officers, American and foreign, a branch of 

' Ramsay's History United States. 
' Spark's Life of Washington. 




Bowl Presented Lady Washington by the Society of 

Cincinnati. 

decorated with the circle of states. 



254 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



which was continued in France, when those officers returned 
to their own country. This society presented Mrs. Wash- 
ington with a set of china, a bowl from which, now owned 
bv the Virginia Historical Society, is reproduced here. 

"To a woman, Miss Cunningham, of South Carolina, first 
came the desire of restoring Washington's home at Mount 
Vernon, which has grown to be the Mecca of good American 
patriots. This lad}^ formed her plans and sent out urgent 




MOUNT VERXON 



■y 



appeals for assistance in 1853. Her first call was to the women 
in southern states and on Jtaly 12, 1854, the first meeting was 
held: and the following ladies were the pioneer workers, for 
the purchase and preservation of this historic place, under 
the leadership of Miss Cunningham. 
Mrs. Julia Cabell, Mrs. Wirt Robinson. 

" Ehza Semmes, " Walter D. Blair, 

" Susan Pellet, " Ben Minor, 

" William Ritchie, " Jos. R. Anderson, 

" — Pegram, " Thomas Ellis, 

and others. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 255 

"On March 17, 1856, the Ladies' Mount Vernon Associa- 
tion was formed ; and for the better furtherance of her work, 
at one time Miss Cunningham went to Hve at Mount Vernon 
(neutral ground in 1861-65.) The sum to be raised for its 
purchase was $200,000, and the land included 200 acres, 
the property of Mr. John Augustine Washington, then 
residing at Mount Vernon. Virginians contributed $7,079. 44 
and to raise this amount the state was divided into 
districts and lady managers were appointed to collect money , 
generally in contributions of $1.00. The names of the 
contributors are registered in the bound volumes of the 
Mount Vernon Record at the rooms of the Virginia Histor- 
ical Society, Richmond. " 

The inauguration" of Washington, 1789, is described by 
an eye-witness thus : "I was present in the pew with 
Washington, and must assure you, that after making all 
deductions for the delusion of one's fancy in regard to 
characters, I still think of him with more veneration than 
for any other person. 

"Time has made havoc upon his face. That, and many 
other circumstances not to be reasoned about, conspire 
to keep up the awe which I brought with me. 

"He addressed the two Houses in the Senate Chamber; 
it was a very solemn scene, and quite of the touching kind. 

"His aspect, grave, almost to sadness; his modesty, 
actually shaking. His voice deep, a little tremulous, and 
so low as to call for close attention, added to the series of 
objects presented to the mind and overwhelming it, pro- 
duced emotions of the most affecting kind upon the members. 

" It seemed to me an allegorv' in which virtue was person- 
ified and addressing those whom she would make her 
votaries. Her power over the heart was never greater, and 

"Fisher Ames' letter May 3d, 1789, (reprinted 1854). 



256 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

the illustration of her doctrine by her own example was 
never more perfect," 

In 1 80 1 when delivering his inaugural address and when 
" asking so much confidence as may give firmness and effect 
to the legal administration of affairs," Thomas Jefferson 
makes this demand "without pretentions to that high con- 
fidence reposed in our first and greatest revokitionary char- 
acter, whose' pre-eminent services entitled him to the first 
place in the country's love, and destined for him the fairest 
page in the volume of faithful history. " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 257 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Resquiescat in Pace, 

"The thanks of Congress in solemn resolutions was the very 
crown of fame. " 

When the announcement of Washington's death was 
made to Congress, that body, thenin session in Philadelphia, 
immediately adjourned. 

On assembling next day the house of representatives 
resolved that a joint committee should be appointed to 
devise the most suitable manner of paying honour to the 
memory of the man, who had filled the measure of his 
country's glory ;^ and addresses were made voicing the 
nation's tribute. 

According to the unanimous resolution of Congress a 
funeral procession moved from the Legislative Hall to the 
German Lutheran church, where an oration was delivered 
by General Lee, a representative from Virginia. The 
procession was grand and solemn; the oration impressive 
and eloquent. When the members of the House of Repre- 
sentatives met on Thursday, December 19th, Mr. Marshall 
with deep sorrow, on his countenance, and in a low, pathetic 
tone of voice, rose and addressed the House as follows: 

"The melancholy event which was yesterday announced, 
without doubt has been rendered but too certain. Our 
Washington is no more! The hero, the sage, and the patriot 
of America — the man on whom in times of danger, every 

> Applied to Andrew Jackson. ^ 



258 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

eye was turned and all hopes were placed, lives now only 
in bis own great actions and in the hearts of an affectionate 
and afflicted people. 

"If it had not been usual, openly to testify respect for 
the memory of those whom heaven had selected as its 
instilments for dispensing good to man, yet such has been 
the uncommon worth, and such the extraordinary incidents 
which have marked the life of him whose loss we all deplore 
that the whole American nation, impelled by the same 
feelings would call with one voice for a public manifestation 
of that sorrow which is so deep and so universal. 

"More than any other individual and as much a.s to one 
individual was possible, has he contributed to found this, 
our wide spreading empire, and to give to the Western 
world its independence and its freedom. Having effected 
the great object for which he was placed at the head of our 
armies, we have seen him convert the sword into the plough- 
share and vokmtarily sink the soldier in the citizen. 

"When the debility of our federal S3^stem had become 
manifest and the bonds which connected the parts of this 
vast continent were dissolving, we have seen him the chief 
of those Patriots, who formed for us a Constitution, which, 
by preserving the union, will perpetuate those blessings 
our revolution had promised to bestow. 

"In obedience to the general voice of his country, calling 
on him to preside over a great people, we have seen him 
once more quit the retirement he loved, and in a season, 
more stormy and tempestuous than war itself with calm, 
and wise determination pursue the true interests of the 
nation and contribute to the establishment of that system 
of policy which will, I trust, yet preserve our peace, our 
honor and our independence. Having been twice unani- 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY '259 

mously chosen the Chief Magistrate of a free people, we 
see him at a time when his re-election with the universal 
suffrage could not have been doubted, affording the world 
a rare instance of moderation, by withdrawing from his 
high station to the peaceful walks of private life. 

"However public confidence may change and the public 
affections fluctuate with respect to others, yet with respect 
to him, they have in war, and in peace, in public and in 
private life, been as steady as his own firm mind, and as 
constant as his own exalted virtues. 

"Let us then, pay the last tribute of respect and affection 
to our departed friend. Let the grand council of the nation 
display those sentiments which the nation feels. 

"For this purpose I offer^ the following resolutions to the 
House. "Resolved, That this House will wait on the 
President of the United States, in condolence of this mourn- 
ful event. 

"Resolved, That the Speaker's chair be shrouded with 
black, and that the Members and Officers of the House wear 
black during the session. 

"Resolved, That a committee, in conjunction with one 
from the Senate, be appointed to consider on the most 
suitable manner of paying honor to the memory of the man, 
first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his 
country. 

"Resolved, That this House when it adjourns, do adjourn 
to Monday." 

These resolutions were unanimously agreed to. Sixteen 
members were appointed on the third resolution. 

A message was received from the Senate informing the 
House that they had agreed to the appointment of a joint 

2 The addre.ss says "I hold in my hand." 



260 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

committee and had appointed seven members to join a 
committee from the House. Both House and Senate 
waited upon the President, John Adams, to express their 
condolence on the distressing event. 

The address of the Senate was as follows: "The Senate 
of the United States respectfully take leave, Sir, to express 
to you their deep regret for the loss the country has sus- 
tained in the death of General George Washington. Permit 
us to mingle our tears with yours. To lose such a man at 
such a crisis, is no common calamity to the world. With 
patriotic pride we review the life of our Washington and 
compare him with those of other countries who have been 
pre-eminent' in fame. Ancient and modern names are 
diminished before him. Greatness and guilt have too 
often been allied, but his fame is whiter than it is brilliant. 
The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majest}^ of 
his virtues. It reproved the intemperance of their ambi- 
tion and darkened the splendour of victory. The scene is 
closed and we are no longer anxious lest misfortune should 
sully his glory; he has travelled on to the end of his journey, 
and carried with him an increasing weight of honour ; he 
has deposited it safely where misfortune cannot tarnish it — 
where malice cannot blast it. Washington yet lives on 
earth in his spotless example- — his spirit is in Heaven. 

"Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic 
General, the patriotic Statesman, and the virtuous Sage; 
let them teach their children never to forget that the fruits 
of his labours and his example are their inheritance." 

In like indulgence of patriotic pride the President 
responded. "His example is now complete and it will 
teach wisdom and virtue to Magistrates , Citizens and 
men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, 
as long as our Historv shall be read. * * * * * " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 261 

WASHINGTON ENTOMBED. 

"Georgetown, December 20, 1799. 
"On Wednesday last, the mortal part of Washington the 
Great — the Father of his Country and the Friend of man 
was consigned to the tomb with solemn honours and funeral 
pomp. 

"A multitude of persons assembled from many miles 
around at Mount Vernon, the choice abode and last residence 
of the illustrious chief. There were the groves — the 
spacious avenues, the beautiful and sublime scenes, the 
noble mansion, but alas! -the august inhabitant was now 
no more. That soul was gone. His mortal part was there 
indeed; but ah! how affecting! how awful the spectacle 
of such worth and greatness, thus to mortal eyes, fallen! 

" In the long and lofty Portico, where oft the Hero walked 
in all his glory, now lay the shrouded corpse. The counte- 
nance still composed and serene, seemed to express the 
dignity of the spirit, which, lately dwelt in that lifeless 
form — There those who paid the last sad honours to the 
benefactor of his countr}-, took an impressive — a farewell 
view. 

" On the ornament at the head of the cofhn, was inscribed 
Surge ad Judicium — about the middle of the coffin. Gloria 
Deo — and on the silver plate. 

General 
George Washington, 
Departed this life on the 14th December 
1799, Aet. 68. 

" Between three and four o'clock the sound of artillery 
from a vessel in the river, firing minute guns, awoke afresh 



262 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

otir solemn sorrow — the corpse was moved — a band of 
music with mournful melody melted the soul into all the 
tenderness of woe. 

"The procession was formed and moved on in the follow- 
ing order: 

Calvary ^ 

Infantry - With arms reversed: 

Guard ) 

Music 

Clergy 

The General's horse with his saddle, hostlers and pistols. 



Colonels. 

Simms 

Ramsay 

Payne 



Ul 




t/3 


u 






<u 




S 




o 


u 


cS 


w 


03 


OJ 


ex 


(D 


^ 


o 


n 


^^ 


\_J 


, 1 








03 




03 


^ 




Cl, 


IV 


[ourners 




Maso 


lie Brethren 




Citizens 





Colonels. 

Gilpin 
Marsteller 

Little 



"When the Procession had arrived at the bottom of the 
elevated lawn, on the banks of the Potomac, where the 
family vault is placed, the cavalry halted, the infantry 
marched towards the Mount, and formed their lines — the 
Clergy, the Masonic Brothers and the Citizens descended 
to the Vault, and the funeral service of the Church was 
performed, — The firing was repeated from the vessel in 
the river and the sounds echoed from the woods and hills 
around. 

"Three general discharges by the infantry — the cavalry 
and eleven pieces of artillery, which lined the banks of the 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 263 

Potomac back of the vault, paid the last tribute to the 
entombed Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armies 
and to the departed Hero. 

"The sun was now setting. Alas! The sun of Glory was 
set forever. No— the name of WASHINGTON— the 
American President and General — will triumph over 
Death! The unclouded brightness of his Glorv will illumi- 
nate the future ages!"^ 

*S'imuel Freer ft Son. "Ulster County Gazette, Kingston, Pennsylvania Vol. II, 
No. 88, Jan. 4. 1800. 



264 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Question of Labor. 

"The South alone coiild enter into the greatness of the question 
of slavery and alone knew the burden, danger and responsibility, 
the great difficulties: it alone had the labor and sorrows." 

Those who came at first as servants to the London 
Company were brought over at the expense of the company 
and supported by its means ; bound by contract to obey all 
its orders; also were subject to martial law. Five years was 
the agreed period of their service, and upon the expiration 
of this time they were set free: when freed they were 
entitled to the planter's dividend of loo acres of land. 

To encourage individual industry, a partial distribution 
of lands was inaugurated by Dale in 1615. Those who had 
been brought over at the expense of the Company had 
three acres of land and t^vC^o bushels of corn from the public 
store; with this allowance they were required to support 
themselves by one month's labor, the balance of the year 
being required by the Company. 

This species of laborers decreased by 161 7 to fifty-four 
persons and these were entirely released from vassalage 
by Yeardley. Their emancipation was one of his first acts: 
by it each man enjoyed the fruits of his own industry and 
began to take in interest in the country and the results of 
his labor. 

Until 1 61 9 the colonists had depended upon the labor 
of white servants, but towards the last of August of this 
year, "a Dutch man-of-warre came that sold us twenty 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 26 & 

negars." This introduced a race differing from any in 
the colony, th« tenure of whose servitude lasted during 
their lives, whose value as property to their owners in- 
creased as they became trained to service. 

In an old historical dictionary is to be found an account 
of the origin of the slave trade; which was "begun in 1442 
when Anthony Gonsalez, a Portuguese, took from the coast 
of Africa, (the Gold Coast) ten negroes, carrying them to 
Lisbon. In 1481 the Portuguese built a fort on the Gold 
Coast and in 1502 the Spaniards began to employ a few 
negroes in the mines of Hispaniola. In 151 7 Charles V. of 
Spain, granted a patent to certain persons for the supply / 
of 4,000 negroes annually to the islands of Hispaniola, Cuba, 
Jamaica and Porta Rico. " 

The first of the English known to have been concerned 
in this commerce was John Hawkins, who was afterwards 
knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He got into his possession, 
partly by the sword and partly by other means, 300 negroes 
and sold them in the West Indies. 

Hawkin's second voyage was patronized by Queen Eliza- 
beth who participated in the profits, and in 161 8, during the 
reign of James I. the British Government established a 
regular trade on the coast of Africa. 

The negroes imported into Virginia, enslaved before their 
purchase by the colonists, were delivered from the hold of 
a slave ship and the cruelty of their Dutch masters. 

Their purchasers seem to have intended to free them at 
a convenient season, and many efforts were made, by those . 
having them in control, to effect so desirable an end. The 
harsher slave laws were early repealed. Beverley says the 
treatment* of the slaves in the province was noted for its 



1 Thirtyjthousand slaves were taken from Virginia bj; the British, in their inva- 
sions during 1781, of whom 27,000 died of camp-fever or small-pox.— Howe, 167. 



206 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

mildness "Whatever it was in former days, cruelties to 
servants is an unjust Reflection, for no people more abhor 
the thoughts of such usage than the Virginians now. 
Service, which has been represented in England as cruel, 
work of slaves and servants, is no other than what every 
common freeman does. — An Overseer among them is one 
who has served well his time. — Negroes are slaves for life: 
whites, servants for a specified time; when not inden- 
tured, till twent^^-four years of age; but if upwards of nine- 
teen years, to serve five years." 

In 1620 the Company had received orders from the King 
to transport one hundred persons^ in custody for various 
misdemeanors, — some from debtors' prisons, — at a time 
when all persons guilt}-^ of larceny above the value of twelve 
pence were by the common law of England subject to the 
death penalty.. These men were dispersed through the 
colonies as servants to the planters, to execute the plans 
of industry daily extending themselves. 

In 1642 runaway servants were liable to be branded on 
the cheek for a second offense. In March of this year 
punishment by condemnation to temporary service was 
abolished. 

The sentence for branding was mitigated in 1657 to a 
brand upon the shoulder; later corporeal punishment was 
added and the term of service prolonged. 

Berkeley gave the official return of the listing of the 
population in 1671 as 40,000 altogether: of these 6,000 
were indented servants and but 2,000 negro slaves. 

Between 1680 and 1786 it is estimated that 2,120,000 
slaves were imported into the British Colonies of America 

2 Convicts were sent from Great Britain constantly up to the time of the Revolu- 
tion and sold to servitude in the colony. — Howison, Vol. II., p. 229. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 267 

and the West Indies. About the time of the Revolution, a 
celebrated French writer stated that the total exportations 
from Africa, since the beginning of the trade, was 9,000,000 
of slaves. 



" In the reign of Charles II. before the voluntary emigra- 
tion of the Quakers, a considerable number of these 
sectaries were transported as felons. " 

After the death of this king, in 1685, Beverley writes that 
"the Virginians proclaimed the accession of James II. with 
acclamations of hope, which they soon discovered were 
fallacious ; the consciousness of which was forced upon them 
by the king's disregardof their entreaties for the suspension 
of a tax on the consumption of tobacco in England, threat- 
ening the depreciation of their only commodity. This 
caused them to treat with kindness the insurgents whom 
James, after the defeat of Monmouth's invasion, appointed 
to be transported to the plantations, requesting the colonists 
to prevent the unfortunates from redeeming themselves 
from the servitude to which they had been consigned. " 

These rebels were sold by King James for ;^io and ;^i5 
apiece on September 19, 1685, to be slaves in the colony. 
They were dishonored by no crime save that of tr^'ing to 
overthrow a dominion already hated; and Virginia received 
them willingly, and on her generous soil they soon acquired 
independence.^ 

The Assembly passed a law in 1705 making slaves real 
estate H In 171 2 Queen Anne boasted of securing a new 
market for slaves in Spanish America: and George II. 
ascending the throne in 1727, favored the custom. 

Bristol, in the reign of Charles II., ranked, though at a 
great distance, next in size to London. The hospitality 

sHowison. Vol. II., p. 395. 
* Before listed as personal property. 



268 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

of Bristol was widely renowned and especially the collations 
with which the sugar-refiners regaled their visitors. The 
repast was accompanied by a rich brewage made of the 
best Spanish wine and celebrated over the whole kingdom 
as Bristol milk. This luxury was supported l;y a thriving 
trade with North American plantations. 

The passion for colonial trafific was so strong that there 
was scarce a small shop-keeper in Bristol who had not a 
venture on board of some ship bound for Virginia. Some 
of these ventures, were not of the most honourable kind. 
There was in the Trans- Atlantic possessions of the crown, 
a great demand for labor, and this demand was partly 
supplied by a s^^stem of crimping and kidnapping at the 
principal English seaports. Nowhere was this system 
found in such' active and extensive operation as at 
Bristol.-^ 

The demand of the colonists for laborers, created ser- 
vants similar to those of the London Company, called 
bondsmen ov indentured servants ,^ who covenanted with the 
merchant, and he in turn with the planter, for five year's 
service. This indenture duly drawn, attested and sworn to, 
bound the bondsman " as a faithful, covenant servant, well 
and truly to serve for the space of five years next ensuing 
the arrival in the said plantation in the employmient of a ser- 
vant, " and he was to be provided and allowed " all necessary 
clothes, meat, drink, washing and lodging, -fitting andconven- 
ientiorhim, as covenant sei-vants, in such cases, are usually 
provided for and allowed. " Such a servant we find advertised 
as having run awa}^ from his master: " an Irish servant Man, 

* Macaulay. 

« This is the kind of laborer Macauley found was often crimped or kidnapped 
and sent into the colony. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 269 

about forty-five years old, five feet eight inches high of a 
swarthy complexion, has long black hair, which is growing 
a little grey, and a remarkable scar under his right eye. 
He had on and took with him, when he went away, a short 
brown coat, made of country manufactured cloth, lined 
with red flannel with metal buttons; oznabergs trousers 
patched on both knees, a white shirt, an old pair shoes and 
an old felt hat. 

"He had been a soldier in some part of America about the 
time of Braddock's defeat, and can give a good description 
of the country. " 

A ship load of indented (or indentured,) servants we 
find brought over in 1768 whose arrival and announce- 
ment for sale is advertised in the Virginia Gazette, March 3, 
1768. "Just arrived, the Neptune — Captain Arbuckle — 
with one hundred and ten healthy servants, men, women 
and boys, among w^hom are many valuable trades-men, 
viz: tailors, weavers, barbers, blacksmiths, carpenters 
and joiners, shoemakers, a stay-maker, cooper, cabinet- 
maker, bakers, silversmiths, a gold and silver refiner and 
many others. The sale will commence at Leedstown, on 
the Rappahaimock, on Wednesday the 9th of this instant 
(March). A reasonable credit will be allowed on giving 
approved security to Thomas Hodge. " 

(The regular permit for landing follows.) 

Runaways were not unfrequent among slaves as well as 
ser^'-ants; and many advertisements for their recovery 
appeared, often accompanied by an illustration of a' slave 
with his wallet on his back ; and in the case of women 
with children, her figure would be drawn, dragging a young 
child along by the hand. The rewards offered were pro- 
portioned to the value of the slave. When the runaway 



270 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

was apprehended by the sheriff, the law required that he 
should publish a notice of the capture, for the benefit of the 
owner, but if at the end of a certain time no claimant 
appeared to demand his property, the captive was disposed 
of at auction. 

Such a notice was found in an old news issue of 1840 
"Committed to jail in the county of * * * * on 
Dec. 27. a negro man slave, who says his name is 




Runaway Slave — 1840. 
From a small newspaper cut. 

John. Said negro is of a copper color about five feet 
ten or eleven inches high and weighs about 165 pounds 
and has been shot in the left arm and shoulder, age about 
twenty-four vears. Said negro says he belongs to Wm. 
Davis of 1= * * * county : was taken up by me on the 
26th ulto. The owner is requested to come forward, pay 
charges and prove propert\s or said slave will be dealt with 
as the law directs in such cases. , Sheriff." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 271 

A reward of S500 was oflfered by the owner for "My 
black man, Caesar, who left home the 13th of May last. 
He is about five feet eight or nine inches high and weighs 
about t6o pounds. Some of his front teeth are out and 
the tip of his little finger on his left hand is wanting. 
He is a pretty good plantation blacksmith. I have no 
hesitation in saying that he was stolen. 

''The above reward will be paid to any person for the 
apprehension and conviction of the thief or thieves. For 
the negro a liberal remuneration will^be given. " 

Another advertiser announces that his negro, named 
Dony Barney ran. away on Sunday evening 21st without 
any provocation. He was purchased by me from the 

estate of — in where he 

has a father and other relatives and many acquaintances 
in the neighborhood, where I presume he has gone. About 
twenty-three years of age, he is five feet nine to eleven 
inches high, rather slender and very black; and very polite 
when addressed. He had on a blue jacket and pantaloons 
of countr}^ yarn and fur cap, and took with him a blue 
cloth pea-coat, a cloth dress coat and other articles of 
clothing and two blankets. 

"The only mark known is a'scar behind his left ear. He 
is artful and curming and doubtless will change his name 
and clothes. I will give $100 if delivered to me or secured 
so I may get him. " 

The Sale of valuable negroes advertised:" 

"The Subscriber will offer for sale at court- 
house on the third Thursday in December next, being 
county-court day, all the negroes belonging to the estate 

* "The man who would, from other motives than embarrassment of circiimstancps 
sell an honest, faithful slave would be looked upon as a sordid, inhuman wretch and 
be shunned by all his neighbors of respectable standing,"cited by Howe. 



272 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

■of the late — — — , thirty or thirty-five in number, 

and very valuable. Amongst them are several female 
house servants, uncommonly likely, and at least twelve 
-or fifteen boys and girls from nine to fifteen years of age. 
The grown negroes are obedient and faithful. By provi- 
sion of will, these people are to be sold in families. 

"A credit till the ist of Nov., 1828, will be given. 
Bonds, with approved security, carrying interest from the 
date, will be required. The interest to be remitted if the 
principal is punctually paid , Executor. 

"Thesale will be conducted by , Auctioneer. " 

"November 28, 1826." 

It occasionally happened that slaves acquired means 
sufficient to purchase themselves and their families; in 
such cases the master did not exact the price he might 
obtain from others. 

"While she was a colony, Virginia protested against any 
increase in the number of slaves by direct importation and 
enacted many laws for the prevention of the slave trade, 
which were vetoed by the sovereign power of England. 

"When the Federal constitution was formed in 1787 the 
slave trade was permitted to continue until the year 1808 
against her earnest protest and remonstrance. Many of 
her wisest statesmen and most prominent citizens were 
opposed to the perpetuation of slaver}-'. In 1814 the policy 
of emancipation was urged, and in 1832 resolutions, pro- 
posing a scheme of emancipation were earnestly debated 
in the Virginia Legislature and were strongly favored by 
many of the foremost men of the state. " ' 

Among those interested in their emancipation none were 
more active than Thomas Jefferson. Of the efforts to 

' Hon. John Goode. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 273 

abolish slavery, Jefferson writes "There are many virtuous 
men who would make any sacrifice for its extinguishment, 
many equally virtuous, who persuade themselves that it 
cannot be remedied. The value of the slave is every day 
lessening and his burthen on his master increasing; interest 
is therefore preparing the disposition to be just." None 
felt more keenly the responsibility of master to his slaves 
than Jefferson. 

There are many court records testifying that individuals 
owning slaves, emancipated them and made provision for 
them until these people were able to support themselves. 

They were sometimes returned in families to their native 
country and at others settled in non slave holding states. 

Some Madison county wills, indicate the sentiments of 
certain inhabitants ; which may be found duplicated in 
many other Virginia counties, at various times. "I give 
and bequeath unto my * * * * executors, all the 
negro slaves, I now own, or have any interest in and do 
most solemnly request them to do with my sd slaves as 
I now prescribe. It is my wish that they be liberated, 
so that they may enjoy the liberties and blessings of a free 
people and not approving of the custom of liberating slaves 
to remain in the United States, I recommend to m}^ execu- 
tors to select for their residence, some section of country 
which may supply them with all the comforts and neces- 
saries that may render their lives as agreeable and easy 
as possible * * * * 

"The profits and proceeds from the sale of my land and 
effects to be applied for the removal and settlement of the 
sd negroes: and in case of a sufficiency of money being 
left after defraying these expenses, I request my excrs to 
buy back a negro girl, named Matilda, (I sold because of 



274 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

pecuniarv embarassment) that she may be removed with 
her parents, 

"This disposition of property is owing to no mahgnity 
of feehng towards my relations but because I think slaves 
are a general evil and withal I deprecate the principle. 
Mav 25, 1839. Proven at court in penalt}^ of $20,000, 
Nov. 27, 1847. Book 8, p. 202." These slaves were settled 
in the state of Ohio. 

A second will, Book 9, p. 421, written in 1852 instructs 
the executors " to send my negroes (slaves) to Liberia, giving 
the men $50 each and my servant woman, Verinda, and all 
of her children $100 to take with them besides getting them 
out of the country ; and bacon enough to last them six 
months after they get to Liberia."** 

The Polish patriot, Kosciuzko, who came October 18, 
1776, to aid in the American cause, had his sympathies 
aroused for the enslaved people, in whose interest he made 
his will, afterwards recorded in the county of Albemarle. 
The will of Kosciuzko reads "I, Thaddeus Kosciuzko, 
being just on my departure from America, do hereby 
declare and direct that should I make no other testi- 
mony disposition of my property in the United States, 
I hereby authorize my friend, Thomas Jefferson, to employ 
the whole thereof in purchasing negroes from among his 
own, or any others, and giving them liberty in my name; 
in giving them an education in trades or otherwise and in 
having them instructed for their new condition in the 
duties of morality which may make them good neighbors, 
good fathers or moders, husbands or wives, and in their 
duties as citizens teaching them to be defenders of their 



8 These two wills happen to be made by an uncle and nephew. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 275 

liberty and country, and of the good order of society and 
in whatsoever may make them happy and useful: and I 
make the said Thomas Jefferson my executor of this. 

KOSCIUZKO." 

"5th day of May, 1798." 

"At a circuit coiu"t held for Albemarle county the 12th 
day of May, 181 9. This investment of writing purporting 
to be the last will and testament of Thaddeus Kosciuzko, 
deceased, was produced into court and satisfactory proof 
being produced of its being written entirely in the hand- 
writiiig of the said Thaddeus Kosciuzko, the same is ordered 
to be recorded. And thereupon, Thomas Jefferson, the 
executor therein named, refused to take upon himself the 
burthen of the execution of said will. Teste. 

JOHN CARR, C. C. 

''Recorded in the Circuit Court Clerk's Office of Albemarle 
County.'' 

-Faithful service often won freedom, which the master's 
will secured. Religious principle i^equired the Quaker 
sect to free their slaves. 

A distinct class were the domestics ; and with the one who 
held the place of mammy in the household, the tie of affec- 
tion binding her and her charge was never outgrown. Her 
prototype may be found, occasionally, along the Gulf 
Coast of the Southern States. 

We have seen that labor in Virginia was supplied by 
four kinds of laborers. 

I. Those hired in the usual way; in the demand of 
capital for labor and the need of employment by the wage- 
earner. 



276 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

2. Those bound by indenture for a specified period of 
service: these were called "kids" from the fact that they 
were often kidnapped into service. 

3. Those who came under the name of convicts, often 
called "felons," but were many of them political offenders, 
who were sent (without class distinction) by the ruling 
powers, to rid themselves of their dangerovis neighborhood: 
sometimes condemned to death, they were given the choice 
of being hung or sent to Virginia. 

4. The slaves, who formed a class by themselves. W hen 
the law prohibiting further importations was finally carried 
into effect, and slave trade cut off, there was a hope of the 
decline of what had grown to be a formidable evil ; at least, 
it was now confined to narrower limits, the question of 
natural increase. Feeling in their full force the evils of 
slavery, which England had introduced, the Virginians 
would freely have abolished the institution, but while 
suffering from the burden, danger and responsibility 
entailed, the accomplishm.ent of the desired end baffled the 
penetration of the wise. 

In a republic and particularly in an agricultural country, 
such as Virginia has been, the question of labor is apt to be 
a vexed one. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 277 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Colony and State Boundaries. 

The early colonists acquired land at first through the 
general permission of residence given by Powhatan and 
his successors. The natives had nothing worth taking 
but their land and this was of such a vast extent there was 
abundance for both Indian and white settler, so long as 
peace was observed in good faith by each party. 

What the natives held was all in common, with no 
distinct and exclusive property, and ever}^ man had a right 
to choose or abandon his situation at pleasure. 

"When his subjects murmured at the English 'planting 
in the countrie,' Powhatan made answer, 'wh}^ should you 
be offended when they hurt you not, nor take anything 
by force, they take but a little waste ground which doth 
you nor any of us any good.'" 

The needs and demands of the settlers created a market 
for the hitherto unvalued property, considered but as 
tribal camping ground and hunting-fields ; as they, by 
barter or conquest^ parted with their eastern territory, the 
natives retired into the fastnesses of undiscovered country, 
and the whites established themselves more and more 
firmly upon their newly acquired estates, by attention to 
their agricultural interests. These estates, from the number 

'That the lands were taken by conquest from the Indians is not so general a truth 
as is supposed. I find In our histories and records repeated proofs of purchases 
which cover a considerable part of the lower country, and many more would doubt- 
less be found on further research. The upper country we know has been acquired 
by purchases made in the most unexceptionable form.— Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, 
p. 153, London Edition, Stockdale, 1787. 



278 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

of acres they were supposed to contain, were originally 
called hundreds, but after their use as tobacco plant farms, 
they naturally acquired the name of plantations and their 
owners were henceforth planters. 

As in government, so from the situation of the country, 
there was cause for dissatisfaction in the limitations of the 
first patent. Foote^ has shew'n whv James's first patent 
proved insufficient so that it was necessary that an appli- 
cation should be made for the second, granted May 23, 
1609. "More than one-half-^ of all the lands within the 
prescribed limits were covered by wide and deep water 
cotirses, the dry land divided into small necks widening as 
you advance upwards and separated by streams of such 
width and depth as to render them often impassible and 
dangerous and the first plantation intended to be and that 
continued the chief place of the Colony was near the west- 
ern and most exposed frontier. Every hope of prosperity 
and security required that the limits be enlarged.'' 

"By an Ordinance adopted by the London Com- 
pany which was continued in force by the crown after 
revocation of the Charter, every person removing to Virginia 
at his own expense, and intending to remain there, was 
entitled to fifty acres of land. The same rule was extended 
to every member of his family; and a husband was entitled 
to the same amount for his wife and each of his children. 
Also whoever brought others at his own cost, became 
.entitled to fifty acres for each one so imported. These 

- William Henry Foote, a Presbyterian divine, moved to Winchester, Va., from 
Connecticutt. He travelled through the country, in the calls of his profession, and 
so familiarized himself with its value and its disadvantages, that in writings descrip- 
tive of it, he has left valuable contributions to the history of his adopted state. His 
"Sketches of Virginia" are particularly in connection with conspicuous members of 
his church. 

3 Foote uses the term moiety. 



BY-WAY'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 279 

rights were called Head Rights and were assignable, and the 
purchaser acquired the same benefit to which the original 
holder would have been entitled. This mode remained 
in force for many years. The manner of taking lands was 
thus: — the claimant proved his title to any dividend or 
head-right by making an affidavit of the facts whereon his 
claim was founded, and subjoined a list of the names of the 
original holders. The list being carried to the Secretary's 
office was there examined and verified and, if regular, was 
recorded. A certificate or warrant given to the owner, 
must be then exhibited to the surveyor of the corporation 
within which he proposed to locate his claim and the land 
desired was shewn by the surveyor. It was the duty of the 
surveyor to lay off the required quantity of land, wherever 
desired, — if such land had not been previously appropriated 
- — and to bound the land either by natural boundaries or by 
chopping notches in the trees that were found on the lines 
of the courses. The survey being made, a copy of it 
together with the warrant upon which it had been made, was 
returned to the Secretary's office: where, if no objection 
was urged, a Patent was made out in conformity with the 
survey and warrant. " This was the form used in proving 

their importation: " cam,e into 

court and prayed leave to make oath that he was imme- 
diately imported at his own expense, into this colony from 
Great Britain and this is the first time of his proving his 
importation in order to obtain head-rights. " 

All the earliest grants are of lands on some water-course. 
"The first claimant having pitched upon some notorious 
point as the beginning, the surveyor ran a line from thence 
along the margin of the stream to a distance, equal to one- 
half of the number of acres to which he was entitled. 



280 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Then from either end of this hne, he ran another straight 
line at right angles to the first to the distance of a statute 
mile, these he marked and the survey was then complete. 
Each succeeding siirvey being made in the same manner, 
the first grants constituted a series of parallelograms all 
fronting on the water and running back a mile. Arbitrary 
allowances were made for useless lands and for the errors 
caused by the attempt to extend a surveyor's chain through 
the thick brushwood of a primitive forest." • 

In the western part of Virginia "the division lines were 
generally made in an amicable manner before any survey 
was instituted: and in doing this proprietors were guided 
mainty by the tops of ridges, and water-courses. " 

"There had been at an early period, an inferior kind of 
title called a 'tomahawk right,' made by deadening a few 
trees, near the head of a spring and marking the bark of 
some one or more of them with the initials of the person 
improving the land. These rights were often bought and 
sold. 

"The greater number of the western farms bore a striking 
resemblance to an amphitheater: the buildings occupied 
a low situation and the tops of the surrounding hills were 
the boundaries of the tract to which the family mansion 
belonged. The farmers were fond of tracts of this 
description, because they said they were attended with 
the convenience 'that every thing comes to the house down 
hill.'"^ 

As the Colony flourished, its frontier extended to 
the Potomac in the interior and coastwise expanded to the 
Albemarle Sound; upon which the first permanent settlers 
in North Carolina pitched their tents, having been attracted 

= Howe. Great West. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 281 

by a report of an adventurer from Virginia, who on his 
return from there, "celebrated the kindness of the native 
people, the fertility of the country and the happy climate, 
that yielded two harvests in each year. "^ 

North Carolina was at first called our county of Albemarle 
in Carolina, but about 1700 it began to be known as the 
Colony of North Carolina. As the settlements began to 
extend the unlocated boundary became the subject of 
much altercation." 

The Virginians under titles from the crown had taken up 
lands to the Southward of the proper limits, and the Caroli- 
nians under warrants from the proprietors, were charged 
with taking up lands that belonged to the crown. Before 
January, 171 1, Commissioners had been appointed to run 
the dividing line: a record of " this operation being taken 
about two miles up the Wycocan Creek" in the year 
1710, is given in the Virginia Historical Magazine. 

In 171 1 other commissioners were appointed, by Virginia 
and North Carolina, who failed to accomplish their work, 
through want of money. The public inconveniences 
experienced from these failures deeply affected the peace of 
society and a remedy was sought for in the act of limita- 
tions: "whereas great suit debate and controversy hath 
heretofore been and may arise hereafter, for prevention 
whereof and for quieting men's estates, this act professes 
to be made. " 



6 Ramsay's Annals ol Tennessee. , 

*In 1630 Charles I. granted to Sir Robert Heath a large portion of the lands of the 
company, commencing at the 36th degree of latitude and including the whole south- 
ern portion of the United States, under the name of Carolina. As this country was. 
not settled until long afterwards and the charter became void by non-compliance 
with its terms, it could not be regarded as injurious by the colony, except as an 
evidence of the facility with which their chartered rights could be diverted. 
— Howe. 



■282 5r-TF.41'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In March 5 , 1727, the attempt to run the hne was repeated, 
with Wm. Byrd, Wm. Dandridge and Rich'd FitzwiUiams 
as Virginia comm'rs. Col. B3-rd left a history of this 
undertaking (in writings known as the Westover Mss., 
published in Petersburg in 1841.) which is not very com- 
plimentary to North Carolina. He states that ' ' the borderers 
laid it to heart if their land was taken in Virginia, they 
chose much rather to belong to Carolina, where they pay 
no tribute to God or to Caesar. " ' 

The boundary line needed to be taken through the 
Dismal Swamp, "once a favorite himting-ground of the 
Indians; arrow-heads, knives and hatchets are found there 
in quantity, showing that the natives, were attracted by 
the abundance of deer, bears, turkeys and other wild 
animals. The swamp is more elevated than the surround- 
ing countrv and here the cypress, juniper, oak, pine, etc., 
are of enormous size: much of the lumber is brought out, 
either through ditches cut for the purpose or are carted 
out bv mules, on roads made of poles laid across the road 
so as to touch each other, forming a bridge or causeway. 
The Dismal Swamp Canal runs through it from north to 
south and the perpetual green is pleasant to the eye, every 
season being like spring in its verdure. Towards the south 
the large reed-covered tract without trees, kept in motior 
by the wind, resembles a green sea. " 

An early description of this swamp defines it as "a vas 
bog extending from north to south near thirty miles; and 
from east to west, at a medium about ten; — it lies partly 
in Virginia and partly in North Carolina. Not less than 
five navigable rivers, besides creeks rise out of it whereof 
two run into Virginia and three into North Carolina."^ 

'Jno. H. Wheeler, His. of N. Ca. 
» 1845. Cited by Howe. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



283 



The ground of this swamp is a mere quagmire and it is 
overgrown with reeds, bamboo-briars and cypress. "It is 
remarkable that towards the heart of this horrible desert, 
no beast or bird approaches, nor indeed do any birds fly 
over it for fear of the noisome exhalations that exude from 
this vast bodv of treacherous marshland. 




H.^rper's Ferry from the Blue Ridge. 

The first habitations of white men, west of the Blue 
Ridge, designed for permanent residences, were erected 
upon the waters that flow into the Cohongorooton and 
with it form the Potomac. 

As the beauty and fertility of the country became known 
b}' hunters and explorers, Fairfax naturally searched for 
the longest stream that passed through the Blue Ridge at 
Harper's Ferry, and gave the name of Potomac to the 



284 B\' -WAY'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Cohongorooton of the aborigines, the river which forms the 
dividing Hne between Maryland and Virginia from its 
mouth to its head-spring. 

Through his grant, Fairfax claimed that extensive country 
embraced in the counties of Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, 
Hampshire, Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Page, Shenandoah 
and Hardy ; but his claim was neither admitted in Virginia 
nor established in England. All the streams of this section, 
seek their outlet by the Cohongorooton at Harper's Ferry. 
The Opecquon, rising at the base of North Mountain west 
of Winchester, winds through the valley to the Potomac: 
on the banks of this stream the first settlements were made. 
Cedar creek rising in the same mountain and crossing 
Shenandoah valley claims the second settlements and 
following these along the Shenandoah in the counties of 
Page, Warren and Shenandoah, other settlements followed 
in order. About the same time Linvell's creek, in Rocking- 
ham, in Beverley's grant, was chosen for a settlement. 
And in quick succession the head-streams of the James and 
waters among the Alleghany ridges emptying into the 
Potomac, were adorned with habitations of men associated 
for mutual defense and protection. 

The lawsuit to establish Fairfax's claim alarmed the 
emigrants and hopes of security lured them to the region 
of coimtry, of which Staunton is near the centre, un- 
troubled as it was by opposing grants. Those who first 
came were Scotch-Irish more or less direct from Ireland, 
next to appear were the Germans, and then the Quakers, 
who were of English origin."^ 

The name of Kentucky was derived from the long, deep 
and clifty river called by the Indians, Kan-tuck-kee. The 

9 W. H. Foote. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 285 

distance of this frontier country from the populous parts 
of the colonies, the wars with the frontier Indians and the 
claim of the French king to the regions of the Mississippi 
and Ohio had prevented attempts to explore it by authority. 

Governor Spotswood had recommended a plan for 
reducing it into English possession but was not supported. 
After the beginning of the war of 1739, between England 
and Spain, Spotswood, then living in retirement, was 
appointed to command the colonial troops, and assured that 
his project of occupying the regions of the Ohio should be 
carried into execution. 

The peace of 1763 secured to Great Britain the right to 
the country cast of the Mississippi, comprehending the 
Kentucky district. 

Another circumstance influencing the settlement of the 
country on the Ohio was the bounty given in the western 
lands to soldiers of the Virginia troops who had served in 
the war of Canada. These lands were to be surveyed by 
the claimants, whose business it was to select them. 

The Great Kanawha, having its sources in North Carolina 
and bearing northwardly through Virginia at the foot of 
the Alleghany, where it was called New River, had been 
explored and settled by Virginians. Some land had been 
surveyed here as early as 1772. 

In 1773 surveyors were deputed to lay out bounty lands 
on that river; these descended from Fort Pitt to the rapids. 
Again in 1774 other surveyors were sent on like business. 
The next year the people of Virginia, being better informed 
of Kentucky's circumstances, repaired to the country in 
small parties for the purpose of selecting future settlements. 
Virginia had hitherto paid but little attention to Kentucky: 
the next year changed the state of things. 



286 BY-WAYS OF VIRGL\'IA HISTORY 

Congress having adopted the Declaration of Independence^ 
Virginia took the decided attitude of a free and sovereign 
state, foi-med her constitution, and asserted her rights as 
co-extensive with the Hrnits of her colonial charter of 1609. 
Within these limits which extended from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific, she asserted the exclusive right of purchasing 
the soil from the aborigines. The extinguishment of the 
Indian title devolved on the state, in whom v/as vested the 
right of purchase from the Indians. The settlers acquiesced 
in Virginia's authority and looked to her for protection, and 
their titles. 

Legislature confirmed a purchase of the country north 
of the Kentuckv river from the Six Nations. The title 
to the Kentucky land north of the Tennessee river now 
silenced bv purchase, Virginia extended her dominion and 
settlement to the Ohio 800 miles from the Atlantic. When 
Legislature assembled such was the increased importance 
of Kentucky and such the disposition of Virginia to accom- 
modate the people of this remote county of Fincastle, with 
the benefits of civil and military organization, that its 
southwestern section was erected into a new county, 
called Kentucky, organized in 1777, and a court of justice 
opened qtiarterly. 

In March, 1783, the three counties erected from Fincastle 
were united into Kentucky district.^" 

Next to acknowledgment of the independence of the 
United States was the ascertaining the boundaries of states. 

When Virginia offered to the United States the country 
comprehended within her charter on the northwest side 
of the Ohio river and a formal deed was made in 1784, she 
conceded a right of soil with the right of dominion ; Kentucky 

1" Marshall, "History of Kentucky." 



Sl'-TF.4y'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 287 

remained her most remote frontier and the Ohio her north- 
west boundary : thus she secured her peace in the union, on 
which she reHed for protection. Many new settlements 
were made and as the country became better known and 
the science of location improved the difference between 
a vague country and one that was special had been learned, 
and the face of the earth was covered with warrants.'^ 

The Virginia Commissioners, Archibald Stewart, Joseph 
Martin and Creed Taylor, met those appointed as Com- 
missioners for Kentucky to run the dividing line between 
Virginia and Kentucky, on October, 1799, and concluded 
a convention at the forks of the Great Sandy River, 
whereby the line was run from the boundary line of North 
Carolina, then Tennessee, along the top of Cumberland 
mountains, northeastwardly, keeping the highest part of the 
mountains between the head-waters of Cumberland and 
Kentucky Rivers on the west side thereof, and the head- 
waters of Powell's river, Guest's river, and the Pond fork of 
Sandy on the east side; continuing along the top of said 
mountain, crossing the road, leading over. the same at the 
little Point gap, where it is called the Hollow mountain, 
and where it terminates at the west fork of Sandy, called 
Russell's Fork ; thence with a line run east until it intersects 
the other principal branch of Sandy; thence down to its 
.junction with the Main west branch and down Main Sandy, 
to its confluence with the Ohio river. W^ 

The following is given as the formation of Kentucky 
District. Fincastle county formed from Botetourt in 
December, 1772, was by Act of December 6, 1776, divided 
into Kentucky, Washington and Montgomery counties; 
and the name of Fincastle became extinct. 



1 1 MarshaU "History of Kentucky." (1760-1841.) 



288 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In March, 1783, Kentucky county was formed into one 
district. In 1785 there was passed the first act favoring 
a separation of Kentucky on certain conditions. In 
January, 1786, by act of the General Assembly of Virginia 
the counties of Jefferson, Nelson, Bourbon, Lincoln, Madison 
and Mercer, were known by the name of Kentucky district 
and were allowed to separate from the commonwealth and 
be formed into an independent state. 

October, 1786, an act was passed postponing Kentucky's 
separation. 

Another act concerning Kentucky's separation, was 
passed in 1788. 

In 1789 the General Assembly passed an act by 
which the Kentucky district embraced in addition to the 
above, the counties of Woodford and Mason and was 
permitted to separate from Virginia and become an 
independent state on terms materially different from the 
Act of 1785 which was found incompatible with the real 
views of Virginia as well as injurious to the people of the 
said district. An Act passing fixed 1792 as the date for the 
independence of Kentucky, in which year this Act was 
carried into effect. 

Jefferson county formed in 1780, was one of the three 
original counties composing the district of Kentucky. 
The Virginia Legislature passed "an act for establishing 
the town of Loixisville at the Falls of the Ohio;" and the 
trustees were appointed to lay oft" the town on a tract of 
1 ,000 acres of land, granted to John Connolly ^^ by the British 

13 Evidence was brought to light of a scheme, projectedby Connolly and matured 
Ijy Dunmore for a co-operation of the various Indian tribes with the Tories on the 
frontiers. Rewards were offered to militia captains inclined to the royal cause, and 
willing to act under Connolly. He was invested with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 289 

Government, which he had forfeited by adhering to the 
English monarch. Each purchaser was to build a dwelling 
house sixteen feet by twenty at least, with a brick or 
stone chimney, within two years from the date of sale: 
this time was extended on account of the inroads of Indians 
as this settlement was more exposed than those in the 
interior." 

"The proprietors of the Kentucky lands obtained their 
patents from Virginia and their rights were of several kinds. 
Those which arose from militar}^ service; from settlement 
and pre-emption; or from warrants from the treasury. 
The military rights were held by officers or their representa- 
tives as a reward for services given in the two last wars. 
The settlement and pre-emption rights arose from occupa- 
tion. Every man who had remained in the country one 
year or raised one crop was allowed to have a settlement of 
400 acres and a pre-emption of 1,000 more adjoining it. 
Every man who had built a cabin or made any improvement, 
by himself or others, was entitled to a pre-emption of 1,000 
acres where such improvement was made. In March, 1780, 
the settlement and pre-emption rights ceased and treasury 

of a royalist regiment to be raised on the frontiers. Fort Pitt was to be the rendez- 
vous of ail the forces to act under him, among which were several companies of the 
Royal Irish in the Illinois country. From thence they would march through Vir- 
ginia and join Dunmore on April 20, at Alexandria, where an army was to land under 
the cannon of ships of war and possess themselves of the town. 

For a time fortune favored this formidable plot, in the prosecution of which' 
Connolly travelled long distances in various directions. Suspicions were at length 
aroused; an emissary of the governor's was arrested upon whom were found papers 
partly disclosing the plot. These led to the arrest of Connelly, while with two 
Scotch confederates he was malcing his way to Detroit. Upon searching their 
baggage a general plan of the whole scheme was found, with large sums of money 
and a letter from Dunmore to one of the Indian chiefs. — Howe, 112. 

>K:!ollin's Historical Sketches. 



290 BY'-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

warrants were issued authorizing their possessor to locate 
the quantity of land mentioned in them wherever it could 
be found vacant in Virginia. 

"After the entr}^ was made in the land office, there being 
one in each county, the person making the entry took out 
a copy of the location and proceeded to survey when he 
pleased. The plot and certificate of such survey was to be 
returned to the office within three months after the survey 
was made, there to be recorded and a copy of the record 
was to be taken out in twelve months after the return of the 
survey and produced to the assistant register of the land 
office in Kentucky, where it should lie six months, that 
prior locators might have time and opportunity to enter 
a caveat and prove their better right. If no caveat was 
entered in that time the plot and certificate were sent to the 
land office in Richmond, and three months more were 
allowed to have the patent returned to the owner." 

The validity of the right of Virginia to this extensive 
western territory had been disputed b}^ some, but without 
reason. "The western boundary of that State by charter, 
restricted by the treaty of Paris in 1763, was fixed upon the 
Ohio river. She had purchased the soil from the Indians, 
had first settled it and established wholesome laws for the 
regulation and government of the inhabitants and therefore 
her right to Kentucky land was as permanent as the 
independence of America. "^^ 

Virginia's declaration of rights. 

" In a general convention of delegates and representatives 
from the several counties and corporations of the state, held 

16 Imlay. Topographical Description of Western Territory. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 291 

at the capitol in the city of Wilhamsburg on Monday the 
6th of May, 1776, Virginia made a declaration of rights and 
agreed upon a constitution or form of government. Amongst 
other things contained therein was ordained: 

Section 2 1 . The territories contained within the charters 
erecting the colonies of Maryland, Pennsylvania, North 
and South Carolina, are hereby ceded and forever confirmed 
to the people of these colonies respectively, etc. 

"Here was magnanimously cut off and surrendered, all 
the territories which had been taken from Virginia by royal 
patents to satisfy the grants to the lord's proprietors. 
The Mississippi and the latitude 36 deg. 30 m. were now 
firmly settled as boundaries of North Carolina, and it was 
hoped no further difficulties would ever arise on the subject. 
Full of this expectation the assemblies of Virginia and North 
Carolina in 1779 appointed commissioners to extend the 
boundary line between them, as the extension of the west- 
ern settlements then made it a necessary measure. They 
were to begin the extension where Fry and Jefferson, and 
Weldon and Churton ended their work. And if that be 
found to be truly in latitude 36 deg. 30 rnin. north, then 
to run from thence due west to the Tennessee or the Ohio. 
Or if it be found not truly in said latitude then to run from 
the sd place due north or due South, into the sd latitude and 
thence due west to the sd Tennessee or Ohio river, correct- 
ing the sd course at due intervals by astronomical obser- 
vations." Col. Henderson and William B. Smith for N. Ca. 
and Drs. Walker and Smith for Virginia met in 1780 to 
extend the line. 

When the Virginia Commissioners were appointed on 
September 6, 1779, to finish this work, the place where 
Messrs. Fry and Jefferson had ended their line could not 



292 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY' 

be found. These last surveyors reported "We continued 
as far as Deer fork, being 123I- miles from Steep Rock 
creek; and considered that as a number of people were 
settling to the west, who imagined they were in North 
Carolina, while we thought they were on lands reserved 
for oi:r officers and soldiers, we thought it best to keep on. 

"The season was advanced, the country mountamous 
and barren, not yielding enough cane for our pack horses; 
these reasons made us go further into a better country, 
where many people being about to settle, it might be impor- 
tant to run the line speedily. The map will show a place 
on Cumberland River where we built canoes to carry our 
baggage and rest the pack horses. We were frozen up 
more than forty days in a river never known to freeze before. 

"In February, 1780, from a Creek on the west bank of 
Cumberland River, we extended the line across the heads 
of Green and Red rivers, through the countr)^ called 
the Barrens; again across the Cumberland Mts, where 
there is a cleft, and at the end of one hundred and forty 
miles, on March 23rd we found ourselves on the bank 
of the Tennessee River and had run the line as far as 
authorized." 

Haywood^^ writes "the Assembly of North Carolina on 
Nov'r 2nd, 1789, referred to a committee, the letter of the 
Virginia Governor on the subject of the dividing line 
and they reported 'that it was proposed on the part of 
Virginia that the line, commonly called Walker's be estab- 

1* In his "Civil and Political History of Tennessee" John Haywood, incorpor- 
ated much of the colonial history of the border country. Haywood published 
his work under the auspices of an act, supplementary to an act entitled "an act 
for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts 
and books, and extending the benefits thereof to designing, etching and engrav- 
ing, historical and other prints." 1824. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 293 

lished as a boundary between the states and as they have 
every reason to beHeve that this is the true Hne, it is recom- 
mended that a law be passed estabHshing it, with a reserva- 
tion in favor of the oldest grants from either state, in decid- 
ing the rights of individual claimants on the tract between 
the two lines.' " 

The Assembly of Virginia, having received official infor- 
mation that the North Carolina legislature had resolved 
to establish this line, upon the yth of December, 1791, 
enacted "that Walker's line be declared the boundary line 
of the states." 

These proceedings were after the cession act and were 
not accepted by the state of Tennessee as valid. 

The pacification which followed the death of Bacon was 
accompanied with increased immigration and an extension 
of the settlements into the Valley of Virginia. 

In 1690 they reached to the Blue Ridge and explorations 
of the distant west were soon after undertaken. Some 
rivers had been discovered on the west side of the Appa- 
lachian mountains which fall into the Ohio river, and it 
in turn fell into the Mississippi below the river Illinois. 

It is said that Governor Spotswood passed Cumberland 
Gap during his tour of eicploration and gave the name to 
that celebrated pass, the mountain, and river which they 
have since borne. 

While the colonists were slowly extending the settlements 
they remained entirely ignorant of the great interior of 
the continent. In their hunting excursions the highlands 
of Virginia had been seen, but adventure had not discovered 
the distant sources of its rivers, and the country beyond 
the Blue Ridge was yet unknown. Its original inhabitants 



294 5V-IT'yirS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

still roamed through the ancient woods, free, independent 
and secure, in happy ignorance of the approaches of civilized 
man. 

That part of the Northern boundary extending from 
the top of the Alleghany mountains to the eastern bank of 
the Tennessee is the line of separation between Virginia 
and Tennessee.^ ^ On the 13th of November, 1801, the 
assembly of Tennessee authorized the appointment of 
commissioners to meet those from Virginia to take the 
latitude and run the line. 

These met at Cumberland Gap and on December 18, t8o2, 
came to an agreement, the act being passed November, 
1803: Gen. Jos. Martin, Creed Taylor and Peter Johnson 
on the part of Virginia; Gen. John Sevier, Gen. George 
Rutledge and Moses Fisk, for Tennessee. The boundary 
line beginning on the summit of the White Top mountain 
at the termination of the northeastern corner of the state 
of Tennessee, a due west course to the top of the Cumber- 
land mountain where the southwestern corner of the state 
of Virginia terminates, keeping at equal distance from the 
lines called Walker's and Henderson's; "and they have 
had the new line run as aforesaid, marked with five chops 
in the form of a diamond, as directed by the said commis- 
sioners and accordingly inin by Brice Martin and Nathan B. 
Markland, the surveyors duly appointed for the purpose, 
under the direction of the comm'rs." 

The comm'rs unanimously agreed to recommend to 
their several states that individuals having claims or 
titles to lands on either side of the line as fixed and between 
the lines, should not in consequence thereof, in any wise 
be affected thereby and that the legislatures of their 

I' Ramsay's History of Tennessee. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGL'^IA HISTORY 295 

respective states should pass mutual laws to render all 
such claims or titles secure to the owners.^* 

The District of Columbia wa# chosen as the American 
seat of government by Act of Congress in 1790. The 
needed reservation of land for this purpose, was ceded by 
the states of Maryland and Virginia: about sixt}^ square 
miles north of the Potomac, was yielded by Maryland, and 
forty square miles south of that river, by Virginia. The 
latter parcel was reconveyed to Virginia in 1846. 

In 1792 the Federal Commissioners advertised for designs 
for a Capitol Building and President's House. "They 
wished to express in some degree, in the style of their 
architecture, the sublime sentiments of liberty, by exhibit- 
ing a grandeur of conception, a republican simplicity, and 
that true elegance of propriety which corresponds to a 
tempered freedom." A number of plans were received 
and examined by the commissioners, assisted by General 
Washington. When the selection was made the architect 
was charged to preserve what Jefferson called "that very 
capital beauty, the portico of the east front. " 

The town of Alexandria, incorporated in 1779 and origi- 
nally called* Belhaven lay principally in the district ceded 
to the general government in 1801. On March 13, 1847, it 
was enacted by the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth of Virginia, "that the territor}^ comprising the 
county of Alexandria in the District of Columbia, heretofore 
ceded by the Commonwealth to the United States and by 
act of Congress, approved on the 9th day of July, 1846, 
retroceded to this commonwealth, and by it accepted, is 
hereby declared to be an integral portion of this common- 
wealth and the citizens thereof are hereby declared to be 

•' Haywood's History of Tennessee. 



2'j6 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

subject to all the provisions and entitled to all the benefits, 
rights and privileges of the Bill of Rights and Constitution 
of this Commonwealth." 

To avoid the delay and trouble of locating their bounty 
land, as well as because of the doubtfulness of their location, 
the warrant holders frequently sold or transferred their 
assignments. One of these from a Revolutionary officer, 
Captain Angus Rucker, is to be found among the court 
records: "Whereas I, Augus Rucker, of Madison County, 
Virginia, am entitled to i,ooc acres of Military land for my 
services as an officer of the Virginia State line during the 
American Revolution, which entry was made August nth, 
1784, by virtue of a Military warrant No. 98 in the following 
wordsorfigures — 'August 11111,1784, No. 485. Angus Rucker 
enters 1,000 acres of land in part of a m.ilitan,^ warrant 
No. 98 beginning where Charles Russell's entry No. 484 
crosses Cla.rk's river on the upper side running up the 
river and out on each side so far as that the length up the 
river may be double the length of the survey. 

Signed, Teste 

1815. WILLIAM CROGANS.' 

"I, Angus Rucker * * * * do by these presents 
hereby assign and make over all my right, claim anddemand, 
title and interest in the above inentioned 1,000 acres 
unto Philip Slaughter and do hereby authorize and em- 
power the Register of the land office, or any other properly 
authorized officer, to grant a patent to the said Philip 
Slaughter his heirs and assigns for the aforesaid 1 ,000 acres 

* * * * and whereas the said land is located in what 
is called the Indian Territory and no survey can be made 
or patent issued for the same until the Indian title shall 
be purchased, now it is clearly and fully understood by 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 297 

the parties that the said, Angus Rucker, only sells and 
transfers his interest in and to said land and that he nor 
any of his heirs are to be held responsible for any loss or 
damage in case the said land should never be obtained." 



298 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HlS10h\ 



CHAPTER XXV. 

County Chronicles. 
Every cotinty "brings a several tale. " 

At the formation of the first eight counties in 1634, 
"Achomat, cahed by the EngHsh Northampton," -was 
the only county, on that side of the bay, belonging 
to the colony of Virginia. "Accawmacke, the northern- 
most of two counties constituting the eastern shore, cut 
off from the rest of the state by the Chesapeake Bay." 
" In June, 1608, the colonists landed on the eastern neck of 
the bav and were kindly received by Acomack, the prince 
of that peninsular, a part of which still bears his name." 

After his voyage to Virginia in 1648, Colonel Norwood 
wrote "A perfect Description"^ of the colony, telling 
"there are in Virginia about 15,000 English and of negroes 
300 good servants. About 1,000 English are seated upon 
the Acamake above by Cape Charles, where Captain Yeard- 
lev is chief commander, now called the county of Northamp- 
ton by the English, which is the only county on that side 
of the bay belonging to Virginia.'' 

Here he was entertained by "Esquire Yardly, a gentle- 
man of good name, — whose father had sometime been 
governor;— he had married a wife from Rotterdam I had 
known from a child. Her father, Custis, kept a victualling 
house, and was general host of our nation there." 

"In Northampton, a wild crop, called magotty-bay bean 
luxuriates, when the fields are not in cultivation, and this 

1 Printed for Rd. Wodenoth at the Star under Peter's church in Comhill, 1649. 



BY'-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 299 

serves as a fertilizing plant. Here wind-mills are in use 
but tide-mills when attainable are preferred; these being 
placed at the mouth of small inlets, which deeply indent 
the shore.-" 

Formed in 1634 as Accawmacke, this county's name 
was changed in 1642 to Northampton, the limits of 
which in 1672 were reduced by the taking from it the 
present county of Accomac. The principal settlement 
was Drummondstown, named after the family of the un- 
fortunate victim in Bacon's rebellion, whose plantation 
was appropriated by Sir William Berkley, and his personal 
property "removed and embezzled" so that his widow and 
children were forced to fly and wander in the wilderness 
and woods till they were well-nigh reduced to starvation, 
before relieved by the arrival of the commissioners.^ 

Besides this town there were the three small villages 
Horntown, Modest- town and Pingoteague. In Eastville, 
the present county seat of Northampton, are preserved 
records dating from the year 1640. 

The Farmer's Register4 claimed that "the Hebrides of 
Scotland did not possess a hundredth part of the grazing 
advantages of the Atlantic islands along the coast of this 
county ; the two northernmost being Chincoteague and 
Assateague. Upon the latter isle, immense numbers of 
wild horses were raised, and it was customary to have 
annual gatherings, called horse- pennings in the month of 
June to drive these wild horses into pens where they were 
seized by the islanders. The imagination can scarcely 
conceive the enthusiasm with which this exciting sport was 
anticipated and enjoyed, which became established as a 

2 Howe, Antiquities. 

3 Campbell, p. 322. 

■• Howe, Antiquities. 



300 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



yearly, frantic carnival. For fifty miles above and below 
the point of meeting, all who loved wild adventure, hurried 
to this scene of jollity on the narrow thread of beach along 
which the horses careered at the top of their speed, with 
manes and tails waving in the wind, before a company of 
men mounted upon the fleetest steeds, shouting, and 
forcing the animals into the angular pens of pine logs pre- 
pared to enclose them ; a scene of unrivalled noise scarcely 
possible, adequately, to describe. The inistic splendor, 
wild festivity, the beautiful horse in all his native vigor, 
panting in the toils, furious with heat, rage and fright. 
Half a century ago these animals were greatly diminished, 
and attendance at the sport much decreased, but on Chinco- 
teague the custom is still celebrated with enthusiasm, for 
the pleasures of the chase and for securing and branding 
colts. Here friends meet to recall old associations, many 
making it a home-coming occasion. 




Old Moore House near Yorktown. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 301 

York, one of the original eight counties formed in 1634, 
is memorable principally from the surrender of Cornwallis 
on October 19, 1781, at its county seat, Yorktown, estab- 
lished by law in 1705. The articles of capitulation were 
signed at the Moore House, on Temple Farm, — the property 
of a widow Moore,- -about a mile below Yorktown. 

York River, upon which the town was located, is here a 
mile wide and stretches far away until it merges into 
Chesapeake bay. On its banks are the ruins of the old 
church, the bell to which bore the inscription "1725": this 
church was destroyed by fire in 181 4. Towards the build- 
ing of the church Hon. Francis Nicholson contributed 
;;^2o sterling, which was recorded in the York county court 
books: "York county October ye 26th, 1696. T promise 
to give five pounds sterling towards building the cott. house 
at Yorke Town, and twenty pounds sterl'g if within two 
years they build a brick church att the same towne. As 
witness my hand ye day and year above written 

(witnesses) FFRA: NICHOLSON 

Stiffen ft'oward. 

Robert Bill; November ye 24th: i6q6. ■ 

The above writing p'ented in cott: and according to 
order is committed to Record. 

WILLIAM SEDGWICK, cl. cur." 

The church walls are composed of stone marl, which is soft 
v/hen taken out of its native bed and becomes hardened by 
time and exposure, until it acquires the hardness and 
durability of solid stone. ^ 

This town possessed an old tavern, called The Swan, 
which was said to be the oldest in Virginia. " 

sCampbeU. "Yorkto-wTi" So. Lit. Mess. 1844. 
' Howe. 



302 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

The preamble to the act for the formation of Spotsyl- 
vania County declares that "the frontiers towards the high 
mountains are exposed to danger from the Indians, and the 
late settlements of the French to the westward of the said 
mountains; therefore it is enacted that Spotsylvania 
bounds upon Snow creek up to the mill, thence to the North 
Anna, up the said river as far as convenient, and over the 
mountains, so as to include the northern passage through 
the mountains; which tract shall become a county, with 
a parish by the name of St. George." 

The residence of Spotswood, after whom it was named, 
and the seat of justice, was in Germanna, where the first 
court was held August i, 1722. This location proving 
inconvenient to the people, it was directed that the court 
should sit from August i, 1732, at Fredericksburg, a town 
founded in 1727 and named for Prince Frederick, son of 
King George II. 

"Seventeen years later the law causing the change, was 
repealed because it was derogatory to his majesty's pre- 
rogative to take from the governor his power and authority 
of removing the courts, also because it might be incon- 
venient in a case of small-pox or other contagious dis- 
temper. " 

In 1780 court was held at the house of John Holladay 
until the new court-house could be completed, the old 
building being unfit to hold courts in. The records of 
Fredericksburg and the county were incorporated until the 
operation of the corporation court system in 1782, from 
which time they were separate and distinct and the county 
court was settled at Spotsylvania Court House. ' 

■ Spotsylvania Court Records. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 303 

Spotswood not only founded Germanna,* but also erected 
the first furnace,^ in North America, for making iron, 
winning for himself the title given him by Colonel Byrd, of 
"the Tubal Cain of Virginia." This furnace was operated 
by the German mechanics, who were seated above the falls 
of Rappahannock within view of the vast mountains. 
"Here were Spotswood's sers^ants and workmen of most 
handicraft trades, a church, court house, and a dwelling 
house of his own. " 

These Germans with "good quantity of rich land, throve 
well, and lived happily, entertaining generotisly; these 
made good wines, which by the experience of Robert Bever- 
ley was done easily and in large quantities, from the culti- 
vation of wild grapes. " 

A massacre of the inhabitants at Germ anna by the Indians, 
induced their removal ten miles higher in the fork of Rap- 
pahannock to land of their own. " There had been a chapel 
about a bow-shot from the colonel's house, at the end of 
an avenue of cherry trees, but some pious people lately 
burnt it down, with intent to get another built nearer to 
their own homes. " f^Vi/t' 

"When a county named Orange, from the color of its 
soil, was taken from Spotsylvania in 1734, Spotswood, 
asked to contribute the site for the new Court House, 
recorded his answer in the county archives: "Whereas I 
have been desired to declare upon what terms I will admit 
the C. H. of Orange County to be built upon my 
land in case the commissioners for placing the same should 
judge the most convenient situation thereof to be within 
the bounds of my Patent. And forasmuch as I am not 

8 Previous to 1724, on a "horseshoe peninsula of 400 acres." 
' Operative May 1st, 1721. 



304 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

only willing to satisfy such commissioners that no obstruc- 
tion on that point will arise on my part but am so disposed 
to make those terms as easie to the county as can be well 
expected. I do hereby declare that I consent to the build- 
ing a C. H., Prison, pillor}'- and stocks on any part 
of my lands not already Leased or appropriated and that 
I shall convey in the form and manner which the trustees 
of the county can in reason require, such a quantity of Land 
as may be sufficient for setting the sd Buildings on with 
a convenient court-yard thereto, for the yearly acknowledg- 
ment of one pound of Tobacco: and moreover I will allow 
to be taken gratis off my Land all the Timber or Stone 
which shall be wanted for erecting and repairing the sd 
Buildings. 

Given under my hand at Germanna the 6th of January 
1734. Recorded March 8th same year. 

A. vSPOTSWOOD."!" 

A record in Orange county dated July 20, 1736, states 
that "James Barbour and Samuel Ball, pursuant to the 
dedimus, administered the oaths appointed by act of Parlia- 
ment to be taken instead of the oaths of allegiance and 
supremacy (the oath appointed to be taken by an act of 
Parliament in the first year of the reign of his late majesty. 
King George I," entitled an act for the further security of 
his majesty's person and govei-nment, and the succession 
of the crown in the heirs of the late princess Sophia, being 
protestants and for the extinguishing the hopes of the 
pretended prince of Wales and his open and secret abettors.) ^^ 



1" Court Record. 
'1 Court Records. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY ■ 305 

In 1743 a petition was brought into Orange countv court 
from the frontier merchants to be relieved from giving 
credits to vagabond people by which the count}" people 
have and are likelv to continue to suffer. 

At the same time and place James Porteus, Gent., made 
oath that the translation of a patent from Queen Christina 
of Sweden to Hans Arnnidson Besk was "according to his 
skill and knowledge fnm the originale in the Swedish 
Tongue into the English. " 

Until 1738 all the country west of the Blue Ridge was 
embraced in the county of Orange, but in October of that 
year this county was divided into two counties, — Augusta, 
containing an area now covering 40 counties and 4 states, — 
and Frederick, bounded by the Potomac dn the north and 
the Blue Ridge on the east, a line from Hedgman's head 
spring to the main spring of the Potomac dividing it from 
Augusta, which included the remaining western land. 

On Januar}' 20, 1775, Augusta's declaration of indepen- 
dence was made at Fort Chiswell. During the war, when 
pursued by Tarleton to Charlottesville, the legislature fled 
to Staunton, where they finished their session. ^^ Here 
were held two large conventions afterwards, to deliberate 
on forming the constitution of Virginia. 

"The belief that the capital would be moved westward 
seems to have been prevalent and by some it was pi*ophesied 
that Staunton,'^ Augusta's county seat, would be chosen 
for this purpose." 

West Augusta district was formed from Augusta county 
and in November, 1776, Ohio county _was_ formed frorn West 
Augusta district. Also in the same month Yohogania 

12 History of Augusta County. 

13 Howe, "At some future day it will probably become the seat of government." 




Cyclopean TowERsfiN Augusta County. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 307 

county was formed from West Augusta district, but by 
the extension of the western boundary of Pennsylvania, 
the greater part fell within the limits of that state and 
the residue was by an act of 1785 added to Ohio County 
and Yohogania became extinct.'* 

In Augusta district lived G-abriel Jones, who being the 
only one of his profession for a long time, gave the name of 
the Lawyer's road to the highway over which he travelled 
to court. An instance of his influence is illustrated in a 
threat made by the presiding justice, of imprisonment of 
the opposing counsel if he did not quit teasing lawyer Jones 
into such exhibitions of fiirious profanity, at a court session. 

Overlooking Staunton, are two high hills said to have 
been named Betsy Bell and Mary Gray, after similar hills 
in north Ireland. Another tradition was that these names 
came from an old Scotch- Irish song 

"Betsy Bell and Mary Gray 

They were 'twa bonnie lasses. 
They built a house on yon bent brae 

And theek'd it o'er with rashes. "'* 

In the county of Augusta are the great curiosities, known 
by the county people as "the chimneys" but better desig- 
nated as the Cyclopean Towers; — seven summits, 60 or 70 
feet in height, rising almost perpendicularly from the bed 
of a stream, which winding around their base, serves as a 
natural moat to a seemingly ruinous castle.'® 

In this county also is the natural wonder, Weyer's Cave, 
discovered in 1804 and named for its discoverer. 

Rockbridge county, formed partly from Augusta, and 
named for its great curiosity, the natural bridge, possesses 

1* Hening. 

i' History of Augusta County. 

<« Cited by Howe, p. 181. 




Martin's Lock near Balcony Falls. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 309 

much beautiful mountain .and river scenery: one of the 
most interesting locaHties is Balcony Falls where the moun- 
tains of the Blue Ridge rear their summits to great heights 
and the river forces its passage over a series of rocky beds, 
which give name to the spot. Along here wended the 
James river and Kanawha canal, conveying the traffic of 
its packets through the country ; and Martin's lock served 
to dam the water up, for the passing of boats, at this spot. 

The steam railway having taken the place of the old 
canal, few traces of the locks remain to recall the service 
of their opening and closing gates, which conduced not 
only to the purpose of carrying freight to its destination, 
but also to the transportation of travellers, whose depend- 
ence, otherwise, for locomotion, was upon stage-coaches. 
The advertisements of the schedules did not call attention 
to their rapid transit, but to the number of miles of staging 
shortened: one of these schedules reads "Through to the 
Virginia springs from Richmond in three days by James 
River Canal and the Natural Bridge. With sixty m.iles 
less staging than any other route. Fare through. Board 
on Boats included." 

A county, formed because of " divers inconveniences 
attending the upper inhabitants of Goochland by reason of 
their great distance from the Court House and other places 
usually appointed for public meetings" — to take effect 
January, 1745 — was named for Wm. Van Kippel, second 
Earl of Albemarle, then governor of Virginia. It was the 
first regularly organized county in James river valley and 
included the whole of Fluvanna, Buckingham, Nelson and 
Amherst, the most of Albemarle and Appomattox, with 
parts of Campbell, Bedford and Cumberland. ^^ 

1' Woods History of Albemarle county. 



310 BY-WAVS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Of this county Joshua Fry was made surveyor and he 
and Peter Jefferson^* (father of Thomas) were among the 
justices: Jefferson was also long county-Heutenant ' of 
Albemarle. The two served as commissioners for defining 
the western limits of the Northern neck grant, by marking 
the line from the headsprings of the Potomac: also were 
commissioners from Virginia to continue the boundar}^ line 
between Virginia and North Carolina, which in 1728 had 
been run from the Atlantic to Peter's Creek by Col. Wm. 
Byrd and others: they also prepared the map bearing their 
names.'" 

Joshua Fry was born at Somersetshire, England and 
educated at Oxford; recorded as magistrate in Essex 
county, T 710; and professor of mathematics at William and 
Mary College: was appointed to command six companies of 
provincial troops raised for "the encouragement and pro- 
tection of settlers on the waters of the Mississippi" in 1754, 
when Washington was made Lieutenant-Colonel under 
him. On the expedition Fry died suddenly at Wills' creek. 

Culpeper county, named for Governor Culpeper (1680- 
8^) was formed from Orange of territorv originally embrac- 
ing what was called the Northern Neck, (the domain of 
Lord Fairfax) ; Governor Culpeper was one of the original 
proprietors of this tract. The county covered all the debat- 
able land between the crown and Lord Fairfax east of the 
Blue Ridge, a long time the subject of a controversy 
involving the title of several millions of acres of land. This 
Neck included the territory now comprising the counties of 
Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, 

1' Peter was the son of Thos. Jefferson, of Osbornes, in Chesterfield County, bom 
1708, married Jane, daughter of Ishain Randolph, of "Dungenness", in Ooochland. 
'^Dinwiddie Papers. 



Sl"-ir.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 311 

Stafford, King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudon, 
Fauquier, Culpeper, Clarke, Madison, Page, Shenandoah, 
Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Fred- 
erick.^" 

Charles II. granted to the ancestors^' of Lord Fairfax, all 
lands lying between the head-waters of the Rappahannock 
and Potomac to the Chesapeake bay, a territory comprising 
about one quarter of the present limits of Virginia. 

Agreeable to an act of the General Assembly at a session 
held in Williamsburg, February 22, 1759, the town of Fair- 
fax, now Culpeper, was laid off on a high and pleasant 
situation on 27 acres of Robert Coleman's land: the plan 
being submitted to the county court in June 2 1 , was ordered 
to be recorded. It received its name in honor of Lord 
Fairfax. (Green's "Notes on Culpeper.") 

Lunenburg's county seat, New London, ^^ was, at the for- 
mation of Bedford, 1753, incorporated in that new countv : 
under the old district system, the Superior court was held 
there. 

In November, 1761, Colonel William Callaway, county- 
lieutenant, made a free gift of loo acres of land for a town 
adjoining the court house, which at the time of the Revo- 
lution had grown to be a place of considerable importance. 
The Marquis de Chastellux writes of it that " it possessed at 
least seventy or eighty houses. " It contained an arsenal, a 

20 Kercheval's History of the Valley. 

21 In the first year after the death of his father, Charles II. (considered as then 
reigning), granted all the tract of land lying between the Rappahannock and the 
Potomac to Lord Hopton, the Earl of St. Albans, Lord Culpeper and others, to 
hold the same forever, paying yearly ;^6. 13.4. to the crowTi. — Campbell, p. 248. 

22 NewLondon was established in the 22d year of George II's reign. In 17C1 at a 
meeting of the Bedford County Court it was ordered "that the trustees of the new 
New London town set the back land belonging to the same in such parcels as they 
shall think most for advantage of the country giving previous notice of such sale 
to the highest bidders." 



312 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

long wooden structure, which was moved to Harper's Ferr3\ 
There was also a long building used as a magazine in the 
war, which was under the guard of soldiers. In July Corn- 
wallis despatched Tarleton to this place for the purpose of 
destrojnng stores and intercepting some light troops 
reported to be on their march to join Lafayette: but neither 
stores nor troops were found. -^ 

The old Court House remained an interesting relic of a 
prosperous era. Here Patrick Henry delivered his speech on 
the celebrated Johnny Hook case. 

An instrument often found among the county records of 
the times after the Revolution was the Power of Attorney 
created bv an act entitled "An act to enable persons living 
in other countries to dispose of their estates in this common- 
wealth with more ease and convenience;" indicating that 
as the population increased and the country became better 
known many of the people were emigrating into newer and 
richer territory. 

A Mss Memorandum, by John Stuart of Greenbrier 
Countv written July 15, 1798, and giving a description of 
the settling of that western territory, is preserved as a 
treasure-trove, among the archives of the county. The 
following is a somewhat abbreviated copy: "The inhabi- 
tants of every country are desirous to enquire after the 
first founders and in order to gratify the curious who may 
hereafter incline to be informed of the origin of the settle- 
ment made in Greenbrier, I leave this Memorandum for 
their satisfaction, being the only person alive acquainted 
with the circumstances of its discovery. 

"Born in Augusta county and the particulars of ten related 
to me by the first adventurers, I can relate with certainty 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



313 



that our river was first discovered in 1749. Jacob Marlin 
is supposed to be the first person reporting of it: he and one 
Stephen Suiel (Sewel) were the first settlers at the mouth of 
Knap's creek above what is now called the little levels on 
land still bearing the name Marlin. 





ys^.Sw^.-"!=^ 



Peaks of Otter,-* Bedford County. 

"These two men lived there in a hermitage, having no 
families; but diftering in sentiment, which ended in rage. 
Marlin kept the cabin, whilst Suiel took up his abode in the 
trunk of a large tree .and thus living more independent, 
their animosities would abate and sociability ensued" (to 
the extent, it is reported, of exchanging morning and 
evening salutations). 

" The Blue Ridge towers to its greatest height in the Peaks of Otter, in Bedford 
county. 



314 fir-ir.-irs of Virginia history 

''Later the country was explored by Gen. Andrew- 
Lewis, a famous woodsman, on whose report Council 
granted 100,000 acres in Greenbrier to the Hon. John 
Robinson, (Treasurer of Va.) & Co., to the number of twelve 
persons including old Colonel John Lewis, and his two sons, 
William and Charles. 

"But the war breaking out between England and France 
in 1755, all who were settled on Greenbrier were obliged to 
retreat to older settlements for safety, amongst whom was 
Marlin: Suiel fell a sacrifice to the enemy. 

"The war ending 1761, people again settled in Greenbrier, 
amongst whom was Archibald Clendennin, whose residence 
was on lands— now claimed by John Davis, (by virtue of an 
intermarriage with his Daughter) — lying two miles west of 
Lewisburg. 

"The Indians again breaking out in 1763, came up the 
Kanawha in a large body, sixty in number, and coming to 
the house of Freddy Sea on Mudd)- Creek, were kindly enter- 
tained by him and Felty Yolcom (Holcomb) ; not sus- 
pecting their design, they and their families with many 
others were killed or made prisoners, not any one 
escaping except Conrad Yolcom, who doubting the design 
of the Indians took his horse out under pretence of hob- 
bleing him at some distance; mounting him, rode as far as 
the Court House now stands and there beginning to 
ruminate whether he might not be mistaken concluded to 
return, but just as he came to Clendennin's fence, the 
Indians presented their guns at him, missing fire. He 
fled to Jackson's river, the savages pursuing untill they 
went on Carr's Creek, now in Rockbridge county. 

"So much were people intimidated by attacks from 
Indians they were suffered often to retreat with more pris- 
oners, than there were Indians in the party. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 315 

"Greenbrier was thus once more depopulated for six years. 
Peace being concluded in 1765 with the Indians, and the 
lands in the western waters with certain boundaries being 
purchased at a treaty at Fort Stanwix by Andrew Lewis 
and Thomas Walker, Comm'rs appointed by government, 
the people returned to the county in 1769, when I 
returned with Mr. Robert McClanahan. 

"Our design was to encourage settlement but the Indians 
again breaking out in 1774, Col. Andrew Lewis was 
ordered by Gov. Dunmore to march against them 
with 5,000 militia, which went from Camp Union, now 
Lewisburg, September 11, 1774; two companies being 
raised in Greenbrier by myself and Captain McClanahan. 

"We were met by the Indians on October loth, at the 
mouth of Kanawha and a very obstinate engagement ensued : 
though with the loss of 75 officers and soldiers, we defeated 
the Indians. Amongst the slain were Col. Charles Lewis 
of the Augusta Militia and Captain Robert McClan- 
ahan. Col. Andrew Lewis pursued his victory across 
the OHio untill in sight of some Indian towns on the waters 
of the Siota, where we met the Earl of Dunmore, who com- 
manded an army in person and had made his rout by Fort 
Pitt. The Gov'r capitulating with the Indians, Lewis 
was ordered to retreat. I have since been informed by 
Col. Lewis, that the King's governor, Dunmore, knew of 
the attack to be made upon us at the mouth of the Ka- 
nawha and hoped our destruction. (This secret was com- 
municated by indisputable authority.) 

"A county was granted to the people of Greenbrier in 1778 
and a court was held at my house on the 3d Tuesday of 
May. We were again invaded by the Indians, who had 
taken part with the British. On the 28th of May two hun- 



316 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

dred Indians attacked Col. Andrew Donnelly's house, 
about 8 miles from Lewisburg. They were pursued from 
the mouth of Kanawha by 2 scouts from that garrison, Phil 
Hammon and John Prior, who gave intelligence of their 
approach. 

"Col. Donelly collected about 20 men and was joined 
by 60 more from Lewisburg, I being of this number. We 
got into the house unhurt, being favored by a field of rye 
which grew close to the house, while the Indians were on 
the opposite side. 

"This was the last time the Indians invaded Greenbrier in 
any large bodv ; four of our men were killed before we got 
into the house and sixteen of the Indians lay dead in the 
yard. 

"Peace being declared with the British, in 1781 the people 
began to make efforts to regulate their matters; opening 
roads, for passes through the A^ountains had been consid- 
ered impracticable, no waggon having ever approached 
nearer than the Warm Springs. 

"The Assembh' granted a law empowering the Court to 
levy a certain sum for the purpose of opening a road from 
the Court House to the Warm Springs, necessary for the 
importation of salt and other necessaries as well as convey- 
ing our hemp and heavy wares to market, but this laudable 
measure was opposed and a suspension of the law was made 
for two years. 

"The following vear Col. Thomas Adams visited the 
country and had the suspension repealed by which means a 
waggon road was opened and way made for another to the 
Sweet Springs. 

"The Assemblv taking our remote situation again under 
consideration graciously granted ^'5,000 of our arrears to be 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 317 

applied to opening a road from Lewisburg to the Kanawha 
river. This was completed in two months' time in 1 786, and 
this communication by waggons will probably be found the 
nighest and best from the east to the west that will ever be 
known. 

"Nature has designed this peaceable retreat for some of 
her favorite children, where pure morals will be preserved, 
by separating them from societys at so respectful a distance, 
by ridges of mountains. From the springs of salt water 
along our river banks, iron-mines pregnant with salt-petre 
and forests of sugar trees, the future inhabitants will surely 
avail themselves of such singular advantages for their com- 
fort and satisfaction. 

" Lewisburg was settled by Capt. Matthew i^rbuckle, the 
town being laid off in 1780 and named in honor of the 
Lewis family, who held a large claim in the Greenbrier 
grant. Arbuckle, distinguished for bravery in the battle of 
Point Pleasant, was killed by the falling of a tree in a 
branch leading from the turns of the waters of Anthony's 
creek to Jackson's river. "^^ 

The town of Lewisburg stands on the site of the old 
Savannah Fort (named from its situation on a kind of 
prairie) v/here General Lewis rendezvoused his army in 
1774, previous to the battle of Point Pleasant. The first 
church built in 1795 was of stone, and erected for the Pres- 
bj^terians, is still in use, and surrounded by an old church- 
yard, containing many interesting old momiments. 

The originator of Lynch Law, was a native of Campbell 
County. This term which was first used during the Revo- 
lutionary period, under very peculiar circumstances, has 
become dififused over the globe, being now used as a syno- 
nym for lawless violence. 

25 Greenbrier Court papers. Mss. 



318 sy-Tr.4r5 of virgixia history 

Col. Charles Lynch, son of the founder of Lynchburg, was 
an officer in the American Revolution. His residence 
was on Staunton river, a branch of the Roanoke, that ran 
through the plantation of John Randolph of Roanoke. 
During the war the country on James river and on the 
Roanoke, above the Blue Ridge and mountain passes, was 
harassed by a lawless band of Tories and desperadoes, their 
depredations extending through what was then the large 
county of Bedford. At that time the country was very 
thinly settled and the seat of government at Williamsburg 
very far distant, with British troops between. 

It was a desperate condition requiring an immediate and 
desperate remedy. Colonel Lynch organized and led a 
band of sturdy patriots, men of the highest moral character, 
good social standing and greatest influence in the com- 
munity. 

They scoured the country, till they had aiTcsted the 
malefactors; then gave them a trial, at which Colonel 
Lynch sat as a judge, empannelled a jury and, upon convic- 
tion, executed judgment. The offenders were allowed to 
defend themselves, show mitigating circumstances and, when 
punished, to leave the community. They were not pun- 
ished except under positive and circumstantial proof, suffi- 
cient to produce conviction of guilt in an honest and candid 
mind.^^ 

In 1780 Col. Charles Lynch, Col. James Callaway, Col. 
William Preston and Capt. Robert Adams, and other loyal 
citizens in Bedford County took such active and efficient 
steps in suppressing "divers evil-disposed persons who 
had formed a conspiracy to levy wa.r against this common- 
wealth" that the Legislature taking the matter into con- 

' Grigsby. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



319 



sideration "Whereas the measures taken may not strictly 
be warranted by law, although justifiable from the immi- 
nence of danger" passed an act "indemnifying and 
exonerating them from all pains, penalties, etc. "'" 

The Conspirators, who were largely Tories, were tried 
before a sort of drum-head court martial. After relieving 
•the country of the Tories, thieves and murderers, who were 
terrorizing the whole section. Colonel Lynch raised a regi- 
ment of riflemen and conducted himself with great gallan- 
try, especially at the battle of Guilford Court House. He 
died soon after the war. 




Ruins of Trinity Church, Norborne Parish, 

The first Jefferson county being incorporated into the 
state of Kentucky, a second was formed in 1801 from Berke- 
ley, the Potomac forming its north-eastern boundary; the 
Shenandoah flowing through it enters the Potomac at 
Harper's Ferry. It was settled principally by families 
from the eastern part of the state. 

James Rumsay removed to Shepherdstown in this county 
from Maryland, and here he constructed and navigated the 
first steamboat. His boat was called by the towns people 

25 Brown. 



320 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"the flying-boat" and he "Crazy Rumsay." In October, 
1 784, he obtained passage of an act guaranteeing to him the 
exclusive use of his invention in the waters of the state for 
ten years: and two years later he gave a public trial of his 
boat, which proved eminently successful. ^^ 

Charlestown, the county seat, established 1786, was 
named for Charles Washington, an early settler, and brother ' 
of George Washington. 

In an open field, near this town, stand the ruins of an 
ancient church, known as Trinity Church, Norborne Parish; 
the church yard monuments are gone and its age is uncer- 
tain, but wild vines picturesquely cover the crumbling 
walls. -^ 




Kanawha Salt Works. 
Gauley and New rivers unite to form the Kanawha which 
runs along the eastern border of the county formed, 1789, 
and bears the name of the river. This "river of the woods" 

2' Hening's Statutes, Vol. II. p. 502. 
"Howe, p. 342. 




Marshall's Pillar in Fayette County. 



322 ^r-Il'.4r5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

receives in its passage, the Elk, Pocatalico (Indian for 
"plenty of fat doe") and Coal rivers and, flowing through 
the county, empties into the Ohio at Point Pleasant. 

Kanawha Salines, known as Terra Salis, receives its 
name from the salt works, which extend 15 miles on both 
sides the river. The discovery of salt here was through a 
buffalo lick and the first well was sunk in 1809. There are 
indications that the Indians were acquainted with and 
made use of the salt water: broken potteries, evidently 
from vessels used for evaporation of salt water, are found in 
great abundance in the neighborhood and there are traces 
of their carvings upon the rocks near. From the elaborate 
sculpturing of animals and birds on one of these, it was 
called pictured or calico rock. 

In 1843 g^s wells were discovered, something new in the 
history of the world; for there is no record of a fountain of 
strong brine, mingled with a fountain of inflammable gas 
sufficient to pump out in a constant stream and then by 
combustion to evaporate the whole into the best q*uality of 
salt.2« 

In a county created in 1809 from Kanawha, and named 
for Governor Cabell, was found traces of a regular compact 
and populous city with streets, running parallel with the 
Ohio river and crossing and intersecting each other at right 
angles, covering the space of nearly half a mile, as well as 
the superficial dimensions of many of the houses, apparent 
and well-defined. The portion of land in which these ves- 
tiges were first seen, was given the name. Green Bottom 
and lies partly in Cabell and partly in Mason. Axes and 
saws of unique form, of iron and copper, as well as other 
mechanical implements were discovered, betokening a state 

-9 Howe, Antiquities. 



z^r-ir.ir5 of virgixia history 



323 



of comparative civilization in the race which fashioned 
them. Who thev were or whence sprung, tradition has 
lost in the lapse of years. 

Fayette county, adjoining Kanawha, possesses the 
nattiral wonder, Marshall's Pillar, (known to the country 
people as Hawk's Nest;) under the projecting stone strata 
of which, tall forest trees are concealed from the view of 
the observer, who endeavors to peer from the dizzy heights 
above into the mysteries of the depths below. 




.Mammoth Mound 

In Marshall county, formed in 1835 from Ohio county, 
was discovered one of tlie mounds, — supposed to have been 
erected by an ancient race, — many of which are scattered 
over the continent. From its size, — 6g feet high, 900 feet 
in circumference at its base and 50 feet in diameter at its 
fiat top, — it was called Mammoth mound. Some years 



324 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

since an oak standing on the top, about 70 feet high, 
appeared to die of age, which upon the transverse cutting 
of the trunk, was estimated to be 500 years old. 

In the interior of the mound were found vaults, timber, 
human skeletons, ivory beads and other ornaments, sea- 
shells, copper bracelets around the wrists of skeletons, etc. 

This mound is on Grave creek, a quarter of a mile from 
the Ohio river, in full view of passing steamers. 

In 1837 Mr. Tomlinson erected an observatory on its 
summit and published a description of it in the American 
Pioneer, having made a complete examination of it by 
excavations. 

The result of other researches proved that this mound 
was one of a series, seven within a short distance of each 
other, which appeared to have been connected by low 
earthen intrenchments. 

Mammoth mound, situated on a level, commands such a 
view of the plain that any transaction near, would be vis- 
ible to multitudes around it. A stone inscribed with hiero- 
glyphic characters suggested to antiquarians the possi- 
bility of African origin.^" 



Campbell, p. 86. Howe, 370-1. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



325 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Struggle for Liberty. 

■'One of the best safeguards of public liberty is a frequent re- 
currence to first principles." 

"Speculative reasoners during that age raised many 
objections to the planting of those remote colonies .and fore- 
told that after draining their mother country of inhabitants 
they would soon shake off her yoke and erect an indepen- 
dent government in America: but time has shewn that the 
views entertained by those who encouraged such generous 
undertakings were more just and solid. "^ 




Hanover Courthouse 

Whore Henry Delivered His Famous Speech on the Parson's Cause. 

Until 1764 England had seemed content with the appoint- 
ment of Virginia's principal officers, and the monopoly of 
her trade. In this year motions were discussed which 
passed into resolutions in 1765, imposing a stamp duty, 

>Hume, History of England. 1754. 




He.nrv Proclaiming "Liberty or Death." 



BV-WAYS OF VIRGI.yiA HISTORY 327 

causing disputes between the colonies and the mother 
country, which finally terminated in the Revolution. 

In opposing the stamp act Virginia led the way, through 
the protests of Patrick Henry, who then (30th of May, 
1765) filled a seat in the Assembly vacated in his favor by 
one of the representatives from Louisa county. 

Henry's genius first displayed itself in the contest between 
the clergy and the people of Virginia. His second brilliant 
display was on a contested election case. In 1765 he pre- 
pared, and was instrumental in passing through the house 
of Burgesses, a series of four resolutions against the stamp 
act and the scheme of taxing America by the British Par- 
liament. From this period he became the idol of the people 
and his influence was felt throughout the continent sUs a 
champion of civil liberty. ^ 

Desiring to add weight to the acts of their representa- 
tives, counties were soon voicing their sense of injustice, 
and the first to make itself heard was Culpeper, on Monday 
October 21st, 1765, the address, from which county, is 
recorded in the clerk's office (Deed book E. p. 138, attested 
by Roger Dixon, the first clerk of the county) and is as 
follows : 

"At a court held for the county of Culpeper, Virginia, the 
16 justices of the Peace, drew up and signed a protest 
against the imposition of the stamp act, directed to the hon- 
orable Francis Fauquier,^ Esq., his Majesty's Lieut- 

- CoUins' Historical Sketches. 

3 In the Virginia Gazette of March .3rd, 1768, there is the notice: W'msburg. 
Early this morning died at the palace, after a tedious illness, which he bore with the 
greatest patience and fortitude, the Hon. Francis Fauquier, Esq., Lieut. Gov. 
and Comm'dr in chief of the colony, over which he has presided near ten 
years, much to his own honor and case and satisfaction of the inhabitants. He was 
a gentleman of the most amiable disposition, generous, just and mild, and possessed 
in an eminent degree all of the social virtues. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society 
and died in his 65 year." He was buried in the north aisle of the church. — Howe. 

It is said that Jefferson considered Fauquier the ablest of Virginia's governors. 



328 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

governor and Comm'dr-in-cliief of the Colony and Dominion 
of Virginia, the humble address, etc 

"SIR: At a time when his Majesty's subjects in Amer- 
ica are so universally alarmed on account of the late pro- 
ceedings of the British Parliament and the enemies of 
America employed in representing its colonies in an odious 
light to our most gracious Sovereign and his Ministers, by 
the most ungenerous interpretation of our behavior, we beg 
leave to take this method to assure your Honor of our invio- 
lable attachment to and affection for the sacred person of 
his Majesty and the whole royal family. And from your 
Honor's well-known candor and benevolent disposition we 
are persuaded that we shall at the same time be permitted 
to fey before your Honor those reasons which have deter- 
mined us to resign the commission of the Peace under which 
we have been sworn to act as Magistrates in this country. 
It seems to be the tinanUnous opinion of the people of Amer- 
ica (and of a few in England) that the late acts of Parlia- 
ment by which a stamp duty is imposed on the Americans 
and a court of vice- Admiralty appointed ultimately to 
determine all controversies which may arise concerning the 
execution of sd act, is unconstitutional and a high infringe- 
ment of our most valuable privileges as British subjects, 
who, we humbly apprehend, cannot constitutionally be 
taxed without the consent of our representatives or our 
lives or properties be affected in any suit or criminal cause, 
whatsoever without first being tried by our peers. 

"And as the execution of the sd act does in some meas- 
ure depend on the County courts, we cannot, if consistent 
with the duty which we owe our country, be in the smallest 
degree instrumental in enforcing a law which conceives as 
in itself, shaking at the very foundation of our liberties, and 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 329 

if carried into execution, must render our posterity unhappy 
and ourselves contemptible in the opinion of all men who 
are the least acquainted with a British constitution, as we 
shall in that case no longer be free but merely the property 
of those whom we formerly looked upon as our fellow sub- 
jects. Permit us, Sir, to add that we still hope his Majesty 
and Parliament will- change our measure and suffer us to 
enjoy our privileges and if we should incur the displeasure, 
to assert our rights, we should look upon it as one of the 
greatest misfortunes which could befall us. 

"We do lieartily wish his Majesty a long and happv reign 
over us and that there may never be wanting a Prince of the 
illustrious House of Hanover to succeed him in his domin- 
ions, that yr Honor may continue to enjoy the favor of 
our sovereign, long govern the people of this ancient and 
loyal colony and that the people may again be happy under 
your mild and gentle administration, as they formerly have 
been, is what we most devoutly pray for. Signed, etc. ..." 

The Westmoreland Declaration,* after an interval of 
four months, followed Culpeper's and was as follows. 
"Roused by danger and alarmed at attempts, foreign and 
domestic, to reduce the people of this country to a state of 
abject and detestable slavery by destroying that free and 
happy constitution of government under which they have 
hitherto lived; We, who subscribe this paper, have associated 
and do bind ourselves to each other, to God, andto our coun- 
try by the firmest ties that religion and virtue can frame, 
most sacredly and punctually to stand by and with our 
lives and fortunes to support, maintain and defend each 
other in the observance and execution of these following 
articles. 

* Virginia Historical Register, Vol. II, p. 14. 



330 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"I. We declare all due allegiance and obedience to our 
lawful Sovereign ***** ^ 

"II. As we know it to be the birthright privilege of every 
British subject founded on reason, that he cannot be tried 
but by his peers and we will go any extremity to prevent 
such attempts and punish the offender ****** 

"III. As the Stamp Act does direct the property of the 
people to be taken from them, we will exert every faculty 
to prevent the execution of the said act ***** 

"IV. That the last act may surely be executed we engage 
that immediate notice shall be given and every individual 
shall repair to a place of meeting ******* 

' 'V. Each Associator to obtain as many names as possible. 

"VI. If attempt be made on the liberty of any Associator, 
we bind ourselves to restore such Associator and to protect 
him. 

"In testimony of the good faith with which we resolve to 
execute this association we have this February 27th, 1766, 
put our hands and seals thereto. Signed etc * * * " 

A few months after the death of Fauquier, Lord Bote- 
tourt arrived (in Oct'r, 1768) as governor of the colony; 
the notice of which is given in the Virginia Gazette of that 
date: — "Last Tuesday evening arrived in Hampton Roads, 
in 8 weeks from Portsmouth, the Rippon man of war, of 
60 guns, Sam'l Thompson, Esq., Comd'r, having on board 
his Excellency, the Right Hon. N. B., Baron de Botetourt, 
his majesty's Lieut, and Gov-General of this Colony 
and Dominion. 

"Next morning his Excellency landed at Little England 
and was saluted with a discharge of cannon there. After 
tarrying a few hours and taking a repast, he set out about 
noon for this citv, arriving about sunset. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRG/XIA HISTOR)' 331 

"His Excellency stopped at the Capitol and was received 
at the gate by his Majesty's Council, the Hon. the Speaker, 
the Att'y-Gen'l, the Treasurer and many other gentlemen 
of distinction, after which, being conducted to the Council 
Chamber and having his commissions read, was qualified 
to exercise his high office by taking the usual oaths. He 
then swore in the members of the Council after which he 
proceeded to the Raleigh Tavern and supped there. 

"His Excellency retired about ten and took up his lodg- 
ings at the palace which had been put in order for his recep- 
tion. Immediately upon his arrival the city was illumi- 
nated and all ranks vied with each other in testifying their 
gratitude that a Nobleman of such distinguished merit and 
abilities is appointed to preside over and live among them. "" 

There was erected in 1774 at the expense of the colony, 
a statue of Lord Botetourt, — at first fronting the old 
Capitol, but moved to the College in 1797— and bearing 
the inscription: "The Right Hon. Norborne Berkeley, Baron 
de Botetourt, his Majesty's late Lieut, and Gov. Gen. 
of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia." "Deeply 
impressed with the warmest sense of gratitude for his 
Excellency's prudent and wise administration and that 
the remembrance of those many public and social virtues 
which so eminently adorned his illustrious character might 
be transmitted to posterity, the Gen. Ass. of Virginia 
on the XX day of July Ann. Dom. MDCCLXXI, resolved 
with united voice to erect this statue to his Lordship's 
memory. Let wisdom and justice preside in any country, 
the people must and will be happy." 

Left side. — "America, behold your friend, who leaving 
his'native country, declined those additional honors which 

5 Howe, 326, citing Virginia Gazette. 



332 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

were there in store for him that he might heal your wounds 
and restore tranquihty and happiness to this extensive 
continent. With what zeal and anxiety he pursued, those 
glorious objects, Virginia thus bears her grateful testimony''." 

In 1770 an association^ of his Majesty's most dutiful and 
loyal subjects met together in Williamsburg to declare ^heir 
inviolable and unshaken fidelity and attachment to their 
gracious sovereign ; and their affection for their fellow sub- 
jects of Great Britain ; their firm determination to support 
at the hazard of their lives and fortunes, the laws, peace, 
and good order of the government. At the same tim-e 
affected with apprehensions of the consequences from the 
arbitrary impositions of taxes on the people in America, 
they resolved "That a committee of five be chosen in every 
county to assist the association (formed for the protection 
of American interests) to prevent the importation of pro- 
hibited articles." 

The Association test read "At the risk of our Lives and 
Fortunes with Arms to oppose the Hostile Proceedings of 
the British Fleets and Armies against the United American 
Colonies. " 

Article third, of the Enumerated Articles, prohibited 
"Spirits, Cider, perry, beer, ale, porter, malt, pease, beef, 
fish, tallow, butter, cheese, candles, fruit, pickles, confec- 
tionary, chairs, tables, looking-glasses, carriages, joiners 
work, and cabinet work of all sorts, riband, India goods of 
all sorts, (except spices) calico of more than 3 sh. sterling 
per yard, upholstery (by which is meant paper-hangings, 
beds, ready-made furniture for beds and carpeting) watches, 
clocks, silversmiths' work of all sorts, silks of all sorts, (ex- 



5 Virginia Gazette. 
Virginia Historical Register. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 333 

cept women's bonnets and hats, sewing silk and netting silk) 
cotton stuffs of more than 3 sh. sterling per yard; linens of 
more than 2 sh. sterlingper yd, (except Irish linens) gauze, 
lawns, cambric of more than 6 sh. ster. per yd, woolen 
and worsted stuffs of all sorts, of more than 2 sh. ster. pr. 
yd, narrow cloths of more than 4 sh. ster. pr. yd, not less than 
I yd. wide, hats of greater value than 10 sh. ster. stockings 
of more than 36 sh. sterling per dozen: shoes of more than 
5 sh. ster. per pair, boots, saddles, men's exceeding 25 sh. 
and women's exceeding 40 sh. exclusive of bridles which 
are allowed, portmanteaus, saddle-bags and all other 
manufactured leather, neither oil nor painter's colors, if 
both or either of them be subject to any duty after the 
first of December next. 

Article fourth. "We will not import anv horses, nor pur- 
chase any imported. 

Article fifth. "We will not import any slaves or cause any 
to be imported or make sale of any after the first day of 
November next. 

Article sixth. "We will not import any wines after Sep- 
tember first next. 

Ninthly. "We will direct and request our correspondents 
not to ship us any of the articles before excepted. 
-^>Eleventhly . ' ' We will not make any advance in price upon 
goods already in hand with a view to profit by restrictions 
hereby laid on the trade of this colony. Having recorded 
a Twelfth and lastly these Associators signed their names 
thereto in W'msburg 2 2d of June, 1770. Then the whole 
Company preceded by the Moderator and Chairman of 
Trade, walked in procession from the Capitol to the 
Raleigh tavern, ** where these loyal toasts were drank : ' ' The 

' The Raleigh tavern had over its portico a bust of Sir Walter Raleigh. 



334 BY-]VAVS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

King;" "The Queen and Royal Family;" "The Gov- 
ernor of Virginia;" "The Speaker of the House of Bur- 
gesses;" "The Moderator and all patriotic Associators;" 
"The Chairman;" " British Liberty in America;" "Daniel 
Dulaney, Esq. ;" "The Pennsylvania Farmer;" "The Duke 
of Richmond;" "Lord Chatham;" "Lord Camden;" "Lord 
Shelburne;" "The worthy British Merchants who joined 
in the Petitions to Parliament for redress of American 
Grievances. " "May the efforts of Virginia, joined with her 
sister colonies in the cause of Liberty be crowned with 
success." "May the Rose flourish, the Thistle grow and 
the Harp be tuned to the cause of American liberty." 

"The'^House of Burgesses, which had led the opposition 
to the stamp act kept their ground during the whole of the 
ensuing contest. The session of 1768-9 was marked by 
resohitions so strong as to excite the popular and amiable 
Botetourt to displeasure: these resolutions reasserted the 
exclusive right of the colony to tax themselves in all mat- 
ters. The governor felt called upon to dissolve .the house, 
but later they were reelected without an exception, and 
this house on March 12, 1773, originated corresponding 
committees, between the legislatures of the different colo- 
nies, the measure being introduced by Dabney Carr, a new 
member from Louisa County, in a committee of the whole 
house ^. 

The resolution was for the appointing of Liter-Colonial 
Committees of Correspondence in resistance to British 
encroachments, who were to enquire into the various vio- 
lations of their constitutional rights by the Ministry: 
" Whereas, the affairs of this colony are frequently connected 
with those of Great Britain, as well as the neighboring col- 
s' Wirt. Life of Henrv, 107. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 335 

onies, which renders a communication of sentiments neces- 
sary, in order to remove the uneasiness and to quiet the 
minds of the people, as well as for other good purposes: — 
Be it resolved, that a standing committee of correspon- 
dence and inquiry be appointed, to consist of eleven per- 
sons, to wit: Peyton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, Richard 
Bland, Rd. H. Lee, Benj. Harrison, Edm. Pendleton, 
Patrick Henrys Dudley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald 
Gary and Thos. Jefferson. 

In supporting these resolutions, Mr. Carr made his debut 
and a noble one it is said to have been. The House hailed 
with delight this new champion, considered by far the 
most formidable rival in forensic eloquence that Henry had 
to encounter. He had the advantage of a person at once 
dignified and engaging and the manner and action of an 
accomplished gentleman. Carr came of distinguished 
ancestry; one member a subscriber to James I's patent was 
knighted 1603, another in 1607. Governor Page wrote of 
Carr 

"His virtues count, and short as was his span 
He died at twenty-eight, a good old man." 

Carr died in Charlottesville May i6th, 1773, aged 29 yrs,- 
two months from the time of his appearance in the House 
of Burgesses.^" 



A second Declaration was made by Culpeper County on 
Thursday July 7th, 1774, at a meeting of freeholders 
and other inhabitants assembled at due notice at the Court- 
house of Culpeper to consider of the most effective methods 
to preserve the rights and liberties of America, Henry 
Pendleton, Esq., being Moderator; when the following 
resolutions were adopted. "Resolved, 

"Wirt. Life of Henry, 107 



336 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"That we will maintain and defend his Majesty's title to 
the crown of his Dominions ; to whose royal person we pro- 
fess due fidelity 

"That the right to impose taxes is an arbitrary exercise of 
power 

"That the act of Parliament is evidently designed to fix 
on the Americans those chains forged for them by a cor- 
rupt ministry 

"That the late unjust act, executed upon our sister colon}^ 
of Massachusetts is a convincing proof of corrupt influence 
and fixed determination to deprive the colonies of rights 
and liberties 

"That Boston is suffering in a common cause. 

"That an association not to import certain commodities 
from England be entered into and not dissolved till our 
rights are restored 

"That no friend to the liberties of America ought to pur- 
chase anything after the Ass'n be formed, except those 
articles excepted 

"That every kind of luxury be abolished 

" That the importing of slaves is injurious to the colony . . 

"That every county appoint deputies to meet in 
Wm'sburg to consult upon proper means for carrying expe- 
dient resolutions." 

"The county committees recommended by the Conven- 
tion of August, 1774, were soon chosen in each county; 
they met at varying dates and their proceedings became 
increasingly important. ^ They were the nurseries of the 
Revolution, each county being presided over by a chair- 
man resident in the county. For nearly two years the 
colony was really governed by them and the destinies of the 
State were virtuallv in their hands. Composed of the most 



BY-WAVS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 337 

discreet and able men, the landed gentry prominent in 
church and state, they sacrificed their interests to their 
country's cause and proved themselves true patriots. A 
paper with the following resolution, which passed unani- 
mously February 29th, 1776, was read "That it be recom- 
mended to the Inhabitants of this (Cumberland) county in 
particular, and the colony in general, that all distinction of 
colonies and counties be laid aside; that there be, no other 
name known among them than that of Americans and that 
every man, who will heartily join in this common and ever 
glorious struggle for Liberty be considered and treated as 
an American born." Members of these committees in 
addresses " entreated by that Regard you have for the safety 
of your own persons; for your Liberties, civil and reli- 
gious, for every thing which can render yr Being on Earth 
happy, for what is of more consideration — -the Happiness 
of yr Posterity for endless Ages to come, under sanction 
of that confidence you repose in us — that without delay 
you take up arms, put them in the best condition, get 
acquainted with military Discipline and stand in readiness 
for actual service upon the first sound of the Trumpet of 
War. " 

On February 5th, Thomas Miller, clerk, directed to pur- 
chase patriotic literature for the use of the country, reported 
that he had secured of Dixon and Hunter, sundry speeches 
of the bishop of St. Asaph and pamphlets of one "Sharp" 
and " that agreeable to the Resolution of this committee he 
had encouraged the reprinting of the speech of Edm'd. 
Burke, Esq., on the American Question." 

Little was done by the county committees after the reor- 
ganization of the county courts in August of 1776, and after 
the adjournment of the General Assembly in December 



338 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

2ist, 1776, they were generally dissolved. The Court of the 
county; the Court Martial of Field Officers and Captains 
taking by the Constitution and Frame of Government, the 
Business in their Hands formerly belonging to the County 
Committees. "^^ 

Among the Acts of the Assembly there is one of Decem- 
ber ist providing for additional forces. "Whereas the 
Earl of Dunmore by his many hostile attacks upon the good 
people of this colony and attempts to infringe their rights 
and liberties by his proclamation declaring freedom to our 
servants and slaves and arming them against us by seizing 
our persons and properties and declaring those who opposed 
such, his arbitrary measures in a state of rebellion, hath 
made it necessary that an additional number of forces be 
raised for our protection and defense, Be it enacted, that 
the same," etc. 

The most emphatic declaration of independence came 
from Fredericksburg, upon the Rappahannock river at the 
head of tide-water, commanding for many years the trade 
of the opulent planters of all that fertile region lying along 
the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers from the Blue 
Ridge mountains to the Chesapeake bay, a region as rich as 
the Northern Neck and the Piedmont country. 

For more than a centur\' prior to the Revolution sturdy 
people were often engaged in active war with the great 
Indian nation once ruled by king Powhatan. In the rebel- 
lion of Nathaniel Bacon against Sir Wilham Berkeley, 
several thousand horsemen marched under his command 
to assert those principles of popular rights, which were pro- 
claimed and established in 1776. 

n Alex. Brown. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 339 

Many of these soldiers were from Fredericksburg and its 
vicinity and it was inevitable that the descendants of those 
men should be first to arm themselves against the encroach- 
ments of the British crown. In April, 1775, over 600 people 
of the upper country armed themselves and assembled at 
Fredericksburg. By the advise of Randolph and Pendleton 
they abstained from "present hostilities" until Congress 
should decide upon some general plan of resistance. They 
held a council which by a majority of one concluded to fol- 
low this advice.^- 

Twenty-one 'days before the famous Declaration of 
Mecklenburg, a convention in Fredericksburg of delegates 
of twelve companies of horse, assembled and proclaiming 
their purpose to defend the colony of Virginia, or anv other 
colony, against the king of England, marched under the 
command of Patrick Henry against Lord Dunmore in his 
capital. 

John Tyler, (son of the marshal for the Colony of the same 
name) became so decided an opponent of the tyrannical 
pretensions of the mother country that his father often 
predicted that soorrer or later he would be executed for high 
treason. Forming the acquaintance of the ardent Jeff- 
erson, his society fanned the flame of Tyler's patriotism. 
Successful in the practice of law this young patriot, was 
elected a delegate from Charles City, succeeding Benjamin 
Harrison, Jr., of Berkeley, as speaker of the house of Bur- 
gesses. While a member of the Assembly, Tyler contracted 
an intimate friendship with Patrick Henry, for whom he 
entertained an almost idolizing veneration. In subse- 
quent years he was governor of Virginia and Judge of the 
United States District Court. His son of the same name 
became President of the Union. 



12 D. H. Maury, "The Virginians." 



340 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Independence was not sought in the beginning of trou- 
bles. Virginia's intimate connexion with England caused a 
feeling of pride in the power and glory of the mother coun- 
try. A spirit of loyalty still influenced the colonists in 
addressing that mother in tones of respect and supplication. 
At the close of the convention of July, 1775, that body pub- 
lished a "Declaration" to the people concluding with the 
explicit statement of their views. "Lest our views and 
designs should be misrepresented or misunderstood, we 
again and for all, publicly and solemnly declare, before 
God and the world, that we do bear faith and true alle- 
giance to his majesty George the Third, our only lawful and 
rightful king; that we will, so long as it may be in our 
power, defend him and his government as founded on the 
laws and well known principles of the Constitution ; that we 
will to the utmost of our power, preserve peace and order, 
throughout the country ; and endeavor by every honourable 
means to promote a restoration of that friendship and amity 
which so long and happily subsisted between our fellow 
subjects in Great Britain and the inhabitants of America; 
that as, on the one hand, we are determined to defend our 
lives and properties and maintain our just rights and priv- 
ileges at every, even the extremest hazard, so, on the other, 
it is our fixed and unalterable resolution to disband such 
forces as may be raised in this Colony whenever our dangers 
are removed, and America is restored to that former state 
of tranquility and happiness, the interruption of which is 
so much deplored by us and every friend to either country. ^^ 

Among the troops rallying at the first call were Culpeper's 
gallant "Minute-Men," described as "Raised in a minute, 

13 Grigsby, p. 7, Con. 1776. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



341 



armed in a minute, marched in a minute, fought in a minute 
and vanquished in a minute." (Randolph in the United 
States Senate.) 




"On the breaking out of the war, Patrick Henry, Com- 
mander, sent to this section for assistance, 150 men from 
the county of Culpeper, 100 from the county of Orange, 100 
from the county of Fauquier. The first minute men raised 
in Virginia was in the year 1775. The flag used by the 
Culpeper men, has a rattlesnake in the centre. The head 
of the snake was intended for Virginia and the twelve 
rattles for the other twelve states. The corps was dressed 
in green hunting shirts with the words "Liberty or Death" 
in large white letters on their bosoms. They wore in their 
hats buck tails and in their belts tomahawks or scalping 
knives. After their arrival at Williamsburg those armed 
with rifles marched into Norfolk county and engaged in the 
battle of Great Bridge. The motto on their flag was, 
" Don't tread on me. " In the course of the war eight com- 
panies of 84 men each were formed in Culpeper county for 
continental service." 



i< Howe, p. 237. 



342 BY-WAYS OF VIRGL\'IA HISTORY 

The hunting shirt was a kind of loose frock, reaching 
half way down to the thighs, — with large sleeves, — open 
before, and so wide as to lap over a foot or more when 
belted. 

The cape was large and sometimes handsomely fringed 
with a raveled piece of cloth of a different color from that 
of the hunting shirt, which was generally of lindsey or a 
coarse linen. The belt, which was always tied behind, 
answered several purposes beside that of holding the dress 
together: in cold weather the mittens and the bullet bag 
were attached to the front part of it: to the right side was 
suspended the tomahawk and to the left the scalping knife 
in its leathern sheath. 

Hugh Mercer, (a refugee to America after the battle of 
Culloden) who had settled in Spotsylvania, espoused the 
colonial cause and in response to his offer to "serve his 
adopted country and the cause of liberty in any rank or 
station to which he might be assigned," received an ap- 
pointment, by unanimous vote, to become Colonel of the 
third Virginia Regiment. 

Among the troops at Williamsburg was a company of 
riflemen from beyond the mountains, commanded by 
Captain Gibson. Insubordination had gained for them the 
title of "Gibson's Lambs": a mutiny arising among them 
produced much excitement in the army and terrified the 
inhabitants of the city. 

The alarming tidings were reported to Colonel Mercer, 
who, reckless of personal safety, repaired to the barracks 
and directing a general parade of troops, he ordered Gib- 
son's company to be drawn up as offenders and violators of 
law and to be disarmed in his presence. The ringleaders 
were placed under a strong guard and before the whole 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 343 

army, he addressed the offenders in a feehng manner, impres- 
sing on them their duties as citizen soldiers, and the certainty 
of death if they continued to disobey their officers and 
remained in the mutinous spirit, equally disgraceful to 
them and hazardous to the sacred interests they had 
marched to defend. 

Disorder was instantly checked and after a short con- 
finement, those under imprisonment were released and the 
whole company were ever after as exemplary in their 
deportment as any troops in the army.^ ^ 

At its formation from Frederick, the county of Shenan- 
doah was named Dunmore after the governor of the colony : 
but after his lordship had taken a decided stand against the 
colonists, one of the delegates from that county stated that 
his constituents no longer wished to live in, nor he to repre- 
sent, a county bearing the name of such atory ; he therefore 
moved to call it after the beautiful stream passing through 
it, and by act of Assembly, October, 1777, the name was 
changed to Shenando or Shenandoah. 

Settled by Germans, for a long while, their native lan- 
guage was universally spoken in the community. Of this 
nationality had been Peter Muhlenburg, a clergyman of the 
Lutheran church living in Woodstock. The commission 
of Colonel was given him in 1776, and he was requested to 
raise his regiment among the valley Germans. He entered 
the pulpit with his sword and cockade, and preached his 
farewell sermon ; the next day he marched at the head of his 
troop, called the eighth or German Regiment, to join the 
armv. 



15 Howe, p. 481, citing So. Lit. Mess. April, 1838. 



344 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

In 1777 Muhlenburg was promoted to the rank of briga- 
dier-general : after the war he moved back to Pennsylvania, 
from which state he had removed, having gained distinc- 
tion as a fine disciplinarian, and an excellent officer, 
esteemed and beloved bv both officers and soldiers.'" 

The colors of his regiment was made of plain salmon- 
colored silk with a broad fringe of the same, having a simple 
white scroll in the center upon which were inscribed the 
words "VIII Virga. Reg:" the spear head considerably 
ornamented. This banner is still preserved, though bear- 
ing traces of service. 

The infant navv responded to the demand for defensive 
force. In 1750 James Barron, Jr., was taken by Colonel 
Hunter, Navy Agent Victualler and sent to sea in charge of 
Captain Barrington, who sailed in a fine ship belonging to 
London, trading on James river: in a few voyages, Barron 
was promoted to be second mate of the ship. Before his 
apprenticeship expired he had command of the 'Kickotan,' a 
small vessel; and at the end of his minority he was made 
captain of a fine ship. 

In 1774 Barron gave up his command to espouse the 
rebel cause. The State Government was among the fore- 
most to look to warlike preparations by sea and land. 

Before any of these vessels were put in commission, Cap- 
tain Barron had commenced his military career as a captain 
of a Minute company, composed of young sailors of Hamp- 
ton, and engaged in the action on the banks of James river 
to the west of Hampton creek. During the continuance 
of the war Commodore Barron was constant!)- employed, 
sometimes aboard the schooner 'Liberty;' at others cruising 
with small squadrons, when he had succeeded to the com- 

" '- oUins' Historical Sketches. 




[/iu/nM^^6l. (yCfi 



/2^n^(. 



'/ 




^s^ 



346 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIN AI HISTORY 

mand of the Virginia Navy on July 3, 1780; and also as a 
member of the Board of War, before the government was 
transferred to Richmond. 

After the peace of 1783 he continued in command of the 
only two vessels retained in the service for the protection 
of the revenue, until the year 1787, when his death 
occurred. ^^ 

"The history of Virginia from the Meeting of the first 
House of Burgesses in the fall of 1776 to the close of the 
war is yet almost wholly unwritten. Glimpses, faint and 
casual of the state of parties may be seen in the text of 
Girardin and in his notes. A record from one cabinet and a 
rumour founded on the supposed contents of another, serve 
only to sharpen the general curiosity, not to satisfy it. 

' ' Should the state of parties during the time specified 
ever be recorded with any fullness and by an impartial hand 
it will make one of the most unexpected and thrilling chap- 
ters in our annals: and unless the effort be made ere long, it 
will be lost to posterity. 

"Of the men of the Revolution none has come down to 

us with more distinctness than Richard Henry Lee 

his action polished with such rare skill, his flowing elo- 
quence, set off by the modulated tones of a sweet voice, his 
classic wit, his devotion to his countr}^ and the calm and 

ardent piety at the distance of two generations, 

we regard him with delight."'* 

Biography enthusiastically repeats Wirt's comparison of 
Lee to Cicero. ' 

" Virginia Historical Register, 1849. 
18 Grigsby, Con. 1776. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 347 

"To Lee was committed the preparation of the most 
important papers of the times and these papers were 
approved in many instances without alteration or amend- 
ment and adopted. If we look at the number, adaptedness, 
accuracy, temperance, ease and elegance of the papers 
drawn by Lee, we know not where his superior among men 
of English race can be found, when, too, mostof the papers 
were written upon the spur of the moment in a spirit of 
business. 

"On the seventh of June, 1776, Lee introduced in Con- 
gress a resolution to the effect that these colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent States and that all 
connection between us and Great Britain, is and ought to be, 
totally dissolved. He proposed this resolution in obedience 
to the instructions of the convention, and by his masterly 
eloquence sustained it. The following are his concluding 
words : 

" 'Why, then, do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? 
Let this happy day give birth to our American republic. 
Let us arise, not to devastate and to conquer, but to 
re-establish the reign of peace and of law. If we are not this 
day wanting in our duty , the names of the American legis- 
lators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of 
Theseus, Lycurgus and Romulus, of the three Williams of 
Nassau, and of all those whose memory has been and will be, 
dear to virtuous men and good citizens.' " 

" Of all his eloquent speeches delivered on the most inter- 
esting topics in the course of a parliamentary career embrac- 
ing more than the third of a centur\' not a solitar\^ specimen 
survived him. " 

"Born at Stratford on the Potomac, 1732, Lee was edu- 
cated in England, returning before he was 20 yrs old: 



348 £;r-n\4r5 of virgixia history 

as early as 1 7 7 5 he was a member of the House of Burgesses ; 
of the Conventions of July and December, 1775, and mem- 
ber of the committee of Safety; a member for Stafford in 
the Convention of 1776 and on the committee appointed to 
draft a declaration of rights and a plan of government. 
Under the constitution of the new government he was one 
of the 5 Revisors and one of the 5 judges of the General 
Court. In the midst of his useful career he fell a victim to 
disease, in his 62d year June. 1794, at Chantilly, Westmore- 
land county. "-" 

On the nth of June, in order to carry out the spirit and 
purpose of Lee's resolution, a committee was appointed, of 
which Thomas Jefferson was chairman, to draft a declara- 
tion of independence. 

This resolution being the special order of the day was 
taken up in committee of the whole on the first of July, 
Benjamin Harrison in the chair. On the same day the 
report of the committee was submitted to the Congress, and 
went over for a day. On the second of July the Lee resolu- 
tion was agreed to : discussion of it lasted two days longer. 
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of July the adoption 
of the memorable report was announced; and soon the 
spell of its inspiration seized upon the people and the doom 
of British rule in the American colonies was sealed. 

The first printed statement, of the adoption of the Decla- 
ration of Independence on the 4th of July by Congress, 

2° Hugh Blair Grigsby, author of "The Virginia Convention of 1776," a discourse 
delivered at William and Mary College and published by request in 1855, says the 
consideration which led him more into detail, than would have been otherwise 
necessary, was, that with the exception of a notice of Wythe, Nelson and Harrison, 
in a work called the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Wirt's Life of Henry 
and Tucker's Life of Jefferson, there was (1855) no other biography of any member 
of the Convention of 1776. Not even Madison had a biographer. Footnote p. 132. 
Yet he refers to Lee's life by his grandson. Since his address appeared the Hon. 
Wm. C. Rives has written a life of Mr. Madison, (IStiO) 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 349 

was made in the Virginia Gazette of July 19th; when a 
synopsis only of its contents was pubhshed. On July 25th 
the adoption of the Declaration was officially announced at 
Williamsburg. The document in full was first published 
on July 26th by an order of Council, and the sheriff of each 
county was enjoined to proclaim it at the door of his court- 
house "on the first court day after he shall have received it." 
The order was signed by Archibald Blair as clerk of the 
Council. 

It is probable that the passage of the Declaration was 
known as early as the loth or 12th through private letters. 

The Virginia Assembly met the following October yth.^' 

The pay of soldiers of the Revolution; beginning in 
August 1775 as allowed in tobacco was to: Captain of 
Horse, 30 lbs; Lieutenant, 30 lbs; Cornet, 25 lbs; Cap- 
tain of Foot, 30 lbs; Lieutenant 25 lbs; Ensign, 20 lbs; or 
at a lookout after the rate of so many pounds per month. 

Under the Act of Convention, Oct., 1776, fifteen battalions 
of Virginia soldiers were raised. 

On Oct., 1779, an enactment was made to raise 2,216 
men, which entitled every soldier, then enlisting, to 100 
acres of unappropriated land at the end of the war. 

On October, 1780, an additional bounty of 300 acres was 
promised soldiers serving till end of the war. 

On May 6th, 1782, the 6th year of the commonwealth, 
Benjamin Harrison, governor, there was passed an act for 
recruiting the state's quota of troops in the Continental 
Service: "3,000 men of sound minds and able-bodied, at 
least 5 ft. 4 in., ranging between the ages of 18 and 50, 
one man for every fifteen militia, for three years or during 
the war." 

21 H. B. Grigsby, Convention, 177ti, p. 135 footnote. 



350 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

The Land Bounty, for officers the same as the Continental 
EstabHshment; a Captain, 300 acres; Lieutenant, 200 
acres, Ensign, 150 acres; each non-commissioned officer 
and soldier, 100 acres. 

Officers and soldiers were allowed twelve months to 
ascertain their claims to bounty lands." 

Army contractors were ordered to provide a stand of 
colors to be borne at the head of the various regiments, 
bearing on one side the name of the district in which the 
regiment had been raised and on the other the legend 
"Virginia for Constitutional Liberty." 

This was the first banner of liberty unfurled in the New 
World.-3 

Sixty-five years after the settlement of the American 
question we find this criticism by an English subject, — 
England's Shortsightedness in the management of the 
British Colonies — 

" In the general retrospect of her opportunities and duties, 
England cannot be acquitted* of the most lamentable short- 
coming in the matter of emigration. 

"At the death of Elizabeth, more than a century after the 
discovery of America, there was not an Englishman settled 
on that continent or on its islands. In the course of the 
ensuing century and a half there grew up a colony of reli- 
gious exiles, of outcasts, penal convicts, slaves and of 
planters. Its misgovernment was as bad as its materials 
and the natural result of both was a war, which cost this 
government a hundred millions of money: certainly more 
than twenty times as much as England had ever spent for 
the good of the colony and which was happily unsuccessful 

22 Hening, Statutes. 
2 3 Brock. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 351 

on our part. Those hundred millions, that estrangement of 
feelings, that disgrace to our arms, were not the worst result 
of our colonial impolicy. It was from the banks of the 
Hudson and Potomac, that the spirit of Democracy 
recoiled upon Europe and a whole age of universal revolu- 
tion and war might be traced to a custom-house squabble at 
Boston." London Times — 1848. (Virginia Historical Reg- 
ister.) 



352 i?F-ir.4y>" OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Evolution of Republican Government. "Govern- 
ment IS THE Machinery Established by the 
Coxstitution." 

" The free institutions of Virginia claim an ancient and 
exalted lineage. They come down through the London Com- 
pany under the able and generous lead of Sir Edwin Sandys 
and the Earl of Southampton from that noble band of 
patriots who commenced the struggle for British freedom in 
thereignof the first James and who by the spiritthey kindled, 
ensured its final consummation in the reign of his successor. 
Under the auspices of the most stirring epochs the first 
representative Assembly ever convened in the western 
world — the Grand Assembly" met in "James City," June, 
1619, of which the General Assembly of Virginia may be 
considered the descendent. This event so fruitful of impor- 
tant consequences to the liberties of the new world, no less 
than the first settlement of the Colony there, invests the 
now deserted James Town with historical associations.^ 
Why should not such a spot be commemorated by some 
monument of the public gratitude and veneration? The 
soil of Virginia was the theatre of the great closing scenes of 
the war of Independence. The plains of York Town were 
signalized by the capture and surrender of the hostile army 
that maintained the contest against American Liberty. 
The surrender of that powerful and well-appointed army to 
the combined forces of America and France was in itself a 
most august and imposing scene and in its consequence by 
far the greatest event of the age. A Resolution adopted 
by Congress October 29, 1781, just ten days after the event 

1 A celebration of the founding of Jamestown occurred on the deserted site in 
T807; and another upon the 2oOth anniversary in 1857. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 353 

reads " Resolved, the U. S. in Congress assembled will cause 
to be erected at York in Virginia a marble column adorned 
with suitable emblems and inscribed with a succinct narra- 
tive of the circumstances of the surrender." Some of our 
sister states have set us a noble example by marking those 
spots of their territory which have been the scenes of great 
historical events, to signalize them to future ages and to 
embody a lasting expression of the national sensibility and 
gratitude. Are not York and James Town worthy to be 
thus commemorated with Bunker Hill and Plymouth?"- 



The first settlement was under the direction of an incor- 
porated company of merchants in London; who were 
authorized, by their charter from James I., to make a gov- 
ernment for the colonists. 

The first step, towards this end, was the appointment of 
a president and council : the latter to be nominated by the 
company in London, and the president to be chosen by the 
people in Virginia. 

Through Bancroft we learn that "their charter reserved 
supreme legislative authority to the king and while a gen- 
eral superintendence of the colony was confided to a 
Council in England appointed by him, its local administra- 
tion was entrusted to a Council residing within its limits : 
to the emigrants themselves it conceded not one elective 
franchise, not one of the rights of self-government."^ 



- Address of William C. Rives. Virginia Historical Society, 1849. 

■' Willie minister to England in 1841 Geo. Bancroft iiad tlie public archives throw-n 
open to him: availing himself of this source of information in his writings, "The 
His. of the U.S. from the Discovery of the \m. Con't" published 1834 and 1882, 
has proven a reference book for later historians. 



354 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Writing of the unsatisfactoriness of this first charter, 
Smith says "as they can make no Laws in Virginia till 
they can be ratified in England, they think it reason none 
should be enacted here without their consents, because they 
only feel them and live under them." 

"After they had settled in a fit and convenient place, 
the plantation was governed by a president and council 
aristocratically and in this government happened all the 
miserie. " 

The second charter (granted in 1609) invested the com- 
pany with the election of the council and the exercise of legis- 
lative power independent of the crown. 

"A third patent gave to the Company a more democratic 
form ; power was transferred from the council to the stock- 
holders and their sessions became the theatre of bold and 
independent discussions. " 

"The Colonists themselves were allowed to share in leg- 
• islation and in June, 161 9, Governor Yeardley, the council 
and two representatives from each of the boroughs, consti- 
tuted the first popular representative body of America." 

"The written constitution brought by Gov. Wyatt 
extended still further the representative principle: under 
its provisions two burgesses were to be chosen for the Assem- 
bly by every town, hundred, or particular plantation. 
Each colonist became a freeman and a citizen, and ceased to 
be a servant of a commercial company, dependent on the 
will and orders of his superiors. The colony flourished 
under this management and representations of its advan- 
tages awakened the cupidity and excited the ambition of 
English courtiers. "4 

<Ramsay. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 355 

"Under instructions from Sir Thomas Smith's adminis- 
tration Yeardley convened the first legislature in America 
July 30, 1619, at Jamestown." 

"Sir George, to the inexpressible joy of the inhabitants, 
declared his intention of reinstating them in full possession 
of the privileges of Englishmen, by convoking a colonial 
assembly. This first legislative body consisted of the gov- 
ernor, the council and burgesses elected by the seven existing 
burroughs, who, assembling in one apartment, conducted 
their deliberations with good sense and harmony and 
debated all affairs that involved the general welfare. The 
laws which they enacted were transmitted to England for 
the approbation of the treasurer and company and are no 
longer extant, but they were declared to have been in the 
main wisely framed though somewhat intricate and unsys- 
tematical. In sending their enactments to England the 
Assembly requested the general court to prepare a digest 
for Virginia of the English laws and to procure for it the 
sanction of the king's approbation, adding 'that it was not 
fit that his subjects should be governed by any other rules 
than such as received their influence from him.' (Chal- 
mers.) 

"The company sometime after passed an ordinance by 
which they substantially established this Virginia Consti- 
tution. They reserved however to themselves the creation 
of a council of state, which should assist the governor with 
advice in his administration and also should form a part of 
the assembty and they provided on the one hand that the 
enactments of the Assembly should not have the force of 
law till ratified by the courts of proprietors and conceded 
that on the other, the orders of this court should have no 
force in Va. till ratified by the Colonial assembly. 



356 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"Thus early was planted in America that representative 
system, in which the energies of liberty are exercised and 
developed — and through which its vigorous spirit was rap- 
idly advancing to a first manhood." "This first conven- 
tion for settling public affairs of the Plantation, met in the 
choir of the church: in it was represented seven corpora- 
tions and four more were laid off during the summer. 
When the company was dissolved in 1624 the king contin- 
ued the same method of government. The Assembly 
debated all the weighty affairs and enacted laws for better 
government of the people and the Governor and Council 
were to put them in execution. These two last were 
appointed by the king, but the Assembly chosen by the 
people: afterwards the governor had a more extensive 
power put into his hands. " 

The Companv, desiring to guarantee freedom to the 
colonists, furnished them a constitution, the principles of 
which the Virginians never could be brought to rehnquish: 
and which is preserved in a 'Summary of the ordinance and 
constitution of the treasurer, council and company in Eng- 
land, for a council of state, and another council to be called 
the General Assembly in Virginia, contained in a commis- 
sion to Sir Francis Wyatt' (the first governor under that 
ordinance and constitution) 'dated July 24, 1621.'^ 

The General Assembly was to be called by the governor 
once a year, and not oftener unless on very extraordinary 
and important occasions, and this Assembly w^as to have 
full power to treat, consult, and conclude, as well of all 
emergent occasions concerning the public weal of the said 
colony, and every part thereof, as also to make, ordain and 

" Howe, p. 42,43. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 357 

enact such general laws and orders, for the behoof of said 
colony and the good government thereof, as from time to 
time might seem necessary. 

No law or ordinance was to continue in force or validity 
unless it was solemnly ratified in a general quarterly court 
. of the Company and returned under seal ; and it was prom- 
ised that as soon as the government of the colony should 
once have been well framed and settled, that no orders of 
court should afterwards bind the colony, unless they were 
ratified in the same manner by the General Assembly. 

Inferior courts were first appointed in 1622 by the Gen- 
eral Assembly, under the name of county courts, the gov- 
ernor and Council still remaining Judges of the Superior 
courts.^ 

The Assembly enacted that in every plantation there 
should be set apart a house or room for the worship of God, 
to be used for no other purpose ; the services to be conducted 
with uniformity to the canons of, the church of England.; 
Whoever absented themselves from service any Sunday 
should forfeit one pound of tobacco ; if he failed to attend 
a month, should forfeit fifty pounds of tobacco. Parents 
were required by enaction of another law to baptize their 
infant children within a prescribed period. 

The following is the form of oath to the church which the 

law required to be taken in court: " came 

into court and took the oaths, etc., 'I, the subscriber, do 
subscribe to be conformable to the doctrine and discipline 
of the church of England, as the same is bj^ law estab- 
lished.' " 

Between 1657 and 1658 county courts were empowered to 
divide the counties into parishes and these latter were 



358 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

entitled to send Burgesses to the General Assembly. Hence 
some parishes appear in history, of whose establishment by 
act of Assembly there is no record. Plantations were rep- 
resented as burgs and parishes. In 1688 the province con- 
tained forty-eight parishes: a church was built in every 
parish and a house and glebe were assigned to the clergy- 
man, along with the stipend fixed by law at 16,000 pounds 
of tobacco.^ 

"The calamities befalling the colony and dissensions of 
the Company caused king James to issue a commission to 
enquire into all matters respecting the settlement from the 
beginning. " 

The books and papers were ordered into the custody of 
these commissioners whose transactions were kept concealed, 
but the result made known in October, 1623. "That his 
Majesty having taken into consideration the distressed state 
of Virginia had resolved to appoint a governor and twelve 
assistants in England and a Gov'r and 12 assistants to 

reside in Virginia and all proceedings subject 

to the royal direction." 

"The Company was ordered toresolve whether they would 
resign their charter and in default of submission the king 
would recall it. 

"This arbitrary mandate so astonished the company that 
when they met, it was read over three times, as if they 
distrusted their ears. The king declared the change of 
government would injure no man's property and commr's 
were appointed to go and enquire into the state of 
the colony. Those appointed were Sir John Harvey, 
(governor in [626) Abraham Percy, John Pory (who had 
been Secretary) Samuel Matthews and John Jefferson. 



Slaughter, Uri.stol Pari.sh. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 359 

"The subjects of enquiry were: How many plantations 

Which of them be pubhc and which private 

How the Colony standeth in respect of the savages 

What hopes may be truly conceived of the plantation 

The means to attain these hopes, etc., etc. 

"The Virginia Gov'r and Council were ordered to assist, 
but no copy of instructions were given them. A writ 
was issued against the Company and upon the represen- 
tation of the Attorney-General that no defence could be 
made without their books, these were restored the redeliv- 
ery of which to the privy Council was protracted till the 
Company's clerks had taken copies. These copies were 
deposited in the hands of the Earl of Southampton and after 
his death in 1624 descended to his son, after whose death in 
1667 they were purchased, of his executors for 60 guineas, 
by Col. Byrd of Va. then in England." 

From these copies and the records of the colony, the 
Rev. Wm. Stith compiled his history of Virginia. 

In Henings Statutes^ may be found the acts of the Assem- 
bly of March, 1624, which are brief and simple, and to the 
point; they refer to agriculture ,0 church establishment and 
defense against the Indians. The names of the members 
of this Assembly are also preserved by Hening; and are as 
follows; — 

Sir Francis Wyatt, Knt., Governor, etc. 
Captain Francis West, John Pott, 

Sir George Yeardley, Captain Roger Smith, 

George Sandys, Treasurer, Captain Ralph Hamor, 

And Tohn Pountis. of the Council. 



8 Vol. I, pp. 119-129. 



360 BY'-WAYS OF VIRGINIA II IS TORY 

Burgesses. Burgesses. 

William Tucker, Nathaniel Bass, 

Jabez Whitaker, John Willcox, 

William Peeine, Nicolas Marten, 

Raleigh Crashaw, Clement Dilke, 

Richard Kingsmell, Isaac Chaplin, 

Edward Blany John Chew, 

Luke Boyse, John Utie, ^^ 

John Pollington, John Southerne, ^ 

Nathaniel Causey, Richard Bigge, 

Robert Adams, Henry Watkins, 

Thomas Harris, Gabriel Holland, 

Richard Stephens, Thomas Morlatt, 

R. Hickman, Clerk. 

Stith's history records the end of the Virginia Company. 
"One of the most public spirited societies that had ever 
been engaged in such an undertaking." He describes the 
company as fonned' of "gentlemen of very noble, clear and 
disinterested views willing to spend much of their time and 
money and did actually expend more than ;(^ 100,000 of their 
own fortunes without any prospect of present gain or retri- 
bution in advancing an enterprise they conceived to be of 
very great consequence to their country. " 

Upon the dissolution of the company James^ issued a 
new commission in which the history of the colony was 
briefly recited. Sir Francis Wyat was continued governor 
with eleven assistants or counsellors; Francis West, George 
Yeardley, Geo. Sandys, Roger Smith, Raph H amor, John 
Martin, John Han^'ey, Samuel Matthews, Abraham Percy, 
Isaac Madison and Wm. Clayborne. 

" Beverley p. 44, states that Charles dissolved the London Co. in 1626. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 361 

These were appointed during the king's pleasure^" with 
authority to rule the colony and punish offenders. No 
assembly was mentioned or allowed because the king sup- 
posed that ''sopoptilar a course" was one cause of the late 
calamities and he hated the existence of such a body within 
any part of his dominions especially when they were dis- 
posed to inquire into their own rights and redress the griev- 
ances of the people. 

As the legislators at the first Assembly, which met at 
Jamestown, were representatives from each borough or 
burg, they thus acquired the name of Burgesses, which they 
long retained. The division of counties was not made for 
some years later. In 1634 the colonv, hitherto constituted 
of plantations or hundreds, was divided into eight shires or 
counties ;'' 1. James City, 2 Henrico, 3 Elizabeth City, 
4. Warwick River, 5. Warrosquoyacki, 6. Charles River, 
7. Charles City, 8. Accawmacke. 

For some years after the formation of the counties, with 
their attendant courts of justice, no court-bviilding was 
especially provided for the meetings of the magistrates who 
held their courts in different private homes, generally those 
of prominent members, (conveniently situated for such 
gatherings) and not always at the same house, the appoint- 
ments being made from the- sitting of the last court. Upon 

'" Macaulay, Vol. 1, p. 21, "James was always boasting of his skill in what he called 
king-craft, yet it is hardly possible even to Imagine a course more directly opposed 
to all the rules of king-craft than that which he followed. The poUcy of wise rulers 
has always been to disguise strong acts under popular forms. .James enraged and 
alarmed his Parliament by constantly telling them, that they held their privileges- 
merely during his pleasure, and that they had no more business to enquire what he 
might lawfully do than what the Deity might lawfully do." 

" These shires were to be governed as in England, and lieutenants to be appointed, 
in same manner, sheriffs, sergeants and bailiffs to be elected. As early as 1628-9 
commissions were issued to hold monthly courts in the different settlements, which 
was the origin of our county court system.— Tlnwe. p. .58. 



362 BY-WAY'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

the occasion of one of these assemblages, the court adjourned 
to sit in a field: no reason is assigned, among the records, 
for this proceeding, it seems probable it was for the conven- 
ience of selecting a site for a court-house, laying off of 
bounds or some similar reason. The first court-houses 
were primitively constructed of logs, sometimes covered 
over with clap-boards. 

As the magistrates and other attendants generally came 
from long distances, a very important adjunct to the 
court-house was the hitching-post for horses. 

The Colony remained seventeen years under the govern- 
ment of the Crown, that is, from the last year of James L- 
till 1642. In the year 1639 the Assembly appointed George 
Sandys, their agent to the English Court with instructions 
to oppose the re-establishment of the Company: these 
instructions he disregarded, presenting instead a Petition 
for restoring Letters Patent of Incorporation. Upon 
hearing of this the Grand Assembly passed a solemn Protes- 
tation, that such was never their meaning or intent "We, 

the Gov'r, Council and Burgesses having taken 

into consideration the dangerous effects from a company 

declare for ourselves that it was never desired and 

that we will never admit the restoring saving a most loyal 
obedience to his Most Sacred Majesty" This declara- 
tion and act was returned with the royal assent to it in these 
words "Charles Rex." "Trusty and well-beloved, we 
greet you well. Whereas we have received a petition 
from you, together with a declaration and protestation 
against a petition presented in your names for restoring 
letters patent, contrary to vour intent and against all such 

as go about to alienate vou from our protection these 

are to signifv our favour towards vou and vr desire to 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 363 

continue under our protection is very acceptable to us and 
as we had not the least intention to consent to the introduc- 
tion of any company over that our Colony so that we are 
confirmed in our resolution thinking it unfit to change a 
government wherein our subjects receive so much content- 
ment. Given under our royal signet at our Court at York, 
July 5th, 1642." 

"By this solemn Act (considered by the Grand Assembly 
as the Magna Charta and Palladium of their Liberties) the 
Constitution was established upon a permanent foundation 
so that history does not afford an instance of any farther 
attempt to dismember the Colony from its dependence upon 
the crown, except in the year 1074 the Lords Arlington and 
Culpeper obtained a grant for the term of 31 years from 
Charles IL of all the lands, rights, jurisdictions, quitrents 
and other royalties within the Dominion of Virginia. This 
grant was so vigorously opposed by the Grand Assembly 
that it was vacated and surrendered to the Crown. " 

The Assembly which met after the arrival of Berkeley in 
1642 published a list of their acts in order to show to the 
colony that they had not swerved from "the true intent of 
their happy constitution which required theni to enact good 
and wholesome laws and rectify and relieve such disorders 
and grievances as are incident to all states and republics; 
but that their late consultations would redound greatly to 
the benefit of the colony and their posterity." 

In conclusion, the legislators stated, that the gracious 
inclination of his majesty, ever ready to protect them and 
now more particularly assured to them, together with the 
concurrence of a happy Parliament in England, were the 
motives which induced them to take this opportunit}^ to 
"establish their liberties and privileges and settle their 



364 BV-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

estates, often before assaulted and threatened and lately 
invaded by the corporation; and to prevent the future 
designs of monopolizers, contractors, and pre-emptors, ever 
usurping the benefits of their labors ; and they apprehended 
that no time could be mispent or labor misplaced, in gaining 
a firm peace to themselves and posterity, and a future 
immunity and ease to themselves from taxes and imposi- 
tions which they expected to be the fruits of their 
endeavors. " 

In his Miscellanies, Howe has given extracts of the 
ancient laws of Virginia, 1662. " Every person who refuses 
to have his Child baptized by a lawful minister, shall be 
amerced 2,000 pounds of tobacco; half to the parish, half 
to the informer. 

"The whole liturgy of the Church of England shall be 
thoroughly read at a church or chapel every Sunday. 

"Church wardens shall present, at the county court, twice 
every year in December and April, such misdemeanors of 
swearing, drunkenness, etc., as by their own knowledge or 
common fame, have been committed during their being 
church- wardens . 

"No marriage shall be reputed valid in law but such as is 
made by the minister, according to the laws of England. 
And no minister shall marry any person without a license 
from the governor or his deputy or thrice publication of 
bands, according to the rubrick in the common prayer book. 
The minister that doth marry contrary to this act shall be 
fined 10,000 lbs of tobacco. 

"The court in every county shall cause to be set up near 
the C. H. a pillory, a pair of stocks, a whipping post, 
and a ducking-stool, or said court be fined 5,000 pounds of 
tobacco. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 365 

"Enacted that the Lord's Day be kept holy and no jour- 
neys be made on that day, unless upon necessity. And all 
persons inhabiting in this country having no lawful excuse, 
shall every Sunday resort to the parish church and there 
abide orderly or be fined 50 lbs of tobacco. This act 
shall not extend to Quakers, or other recusants, who totally 
absent themselves, but they shall be liable to the penalty 
imposed by the Statute Eliz.'h. 23rd- viz., £,20. sterling 
for every month's absence; and if found assembling in 
unlawful conventicles, shall be fined 200 lbs of tobacco 
every man. 

"The 27th day August be appointed for a day of humil- 
iation, to implore God's mercy. 

"No licensed attorney shall demand or receive, for bring- 
ing any cause to judgment in the general court, more than 
500 lbs of tobacco and cask; and in the county court 
150 lbs of tobacco and cask; which fees are allowed 
him without any pre-arrangement. If any attorney shall 
refuse to plead any cause in the respective courts aforesaid, 
for the aforesaid fees, he shall forfeit as much as his fees 
should have been. 

"No master of any ship, vessel etc., shall transport any 
person out of this colony without a pass, under the secre- 
tary's hand, upon the penalty of paying all such debts as 
any such person shall owe at his departure and i ,000 lbs 
of tobacco to the secretary." 

The act declaring a dissolution of the Colonial Govern- 
ment was passed as follows: "Whereas George III. King 
of Great Britain and Ireland, and Elector of Hanover 
heretofore interested with the exercise of the kingly office 
:n this government hath endeavored to pervert the same 
into a detestable and insupportable tyranny by putting 



366 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

his negative upon laws, the most wholesome and necessary 
for the public good * * * * by which several acts 
of misrule the government of this country as formerly 
exercised under the crown of Great Britain is Totally Dis- 
so'ved."'^ On the discountinuance of assemblies it 
became necessary to provide some other body in their place. 
In 1775 Conventions were introduced, consisting of two 
delegates from each county, meeting together and forming 
one house, on the plan of the former House of Burgesses, 
to whose places they succeeded. These were at first chosen 
anew at every particular session. But in March of this 
year they recommended the people to choose a Convention 
to continue in office for one year. 

This was done in April and in July following that Con- 
vention passed an ordinance providing for the election of 
delegates in the month of April annually. Under this 
ordinance at the election in 1776 a Convention was elected 
which met soon afterwards on May 6th in the old Capitol 
in the city of Williamsburg and proceeded to consider the 
state of the country and adopted a resolution instructing 
the delegates representing the Colony in the General Con- 
gress to move that body to declare the United Colonies free 
and independent states and another appointing a committee 
to prepare and report a "Declaration of Rights and a plan of 
Government which should be most likely to maintain peace 
and order in this colony and secure substantial and equal 
liberty to the people." 

"The Plan of Government as discussed was unani- 
mously adopted June 29th as the Constitution of the 
State. This instrument provided that the Legisla- 
ture should consist of a House of Delegates and 
Senate, a Governor and Privy Council, Judges of Supreme 

12 Hening, Vol. IX, II. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 367 

Court of Appeals and General Court, Judges in Chancery, 
etc." "On June 29, 1776, the first Constitution of Virginia 
(the first written constitution of a sovereign state known 
among men) was adopted by unanimous vote. The day 
after this adoption, in pursuance of its provisions the con- 
vention proceeded to elect a Governor and Council and 
deputed George Mason at the head of a committee to inform 
Patrick Henry of his election as Chief Magistrate of the 
Commonwealth. Mason was also assigned the duty of 
assisting in the preparation of a seal for the new Common- 
wealth. 




State Seal of Virginia. 

"The design adopted by the Committee for a new seal was 
not less fortunate in conception, nor less striking in execu- 
tion than the regal effigy which it was to supersede. The 
figure of Virtue erect and triumphant, resting on a spear 
with one hand and holding a sword with the other, treading 
on a tyrant whose crown has fallen from his head and in 
whose left hand is a broken chain, and the right a scourge 
with the motto ''Sic semper Tyrannis" tells with graphic 
fidelity not only the storA^ of our independence, but the 
simple majesty of the men who portrayed it on the standard 
of our countrv. 



368 BY-WAYS OF V1RGL\UA HISTORY 

"It was Mr. Mason who reported to the convention this 
device for the ensign of Virginia and whose fame will ever 
float in its folds. The committee consisted of Richard 
Henry Lee, George Mason, Nichols and Wythe. Three 
designs appear from Girardin to have been before the com- 
mittee; the one adopted, Girardin ascribes to Wythe 
without naming his authority. Its designs are taken from 
Spence's Polymetis. Mason reported their choice to the 
House on the eve of its adjournment.^^ 

"The first Draught of the Declaration of Rights drawn by 
me and presented to the Virginia Convention received few 
alterations. This was the first thing of the kind upon 
the Continent and has been closely imitated by all the other 
States. We have laid our new Government upon a broad 
foundation and have endeavored to provide the most 
effectual securities for the essential rights of human nature 
both in civil and religious liberty. 

"The people become every day more and more attached 
to it * * * * Things have gone such lengths that 
it is a niatter of moonshine whether independence was at 
first intended or not. To talk of replacing us in the situa- 
tion of 1 763 as we first asked is to the last degree impossible. 
No man was more attached to the Hanover family and the 
Whig interest of England than I and few men had stronger 
prejudices in favor of that form of government under which 
I was born and bred or a greater aversion to changing it. 
But when the reconciliation became a lost hope, and uncon- 
ditional submission or eft'ectual resistance were the only 
alternative left us, when the last dutiful and humble petition 
from Congress received no other answer than declaring us 
rebels and out of the King's protection, I, from that moment, 

13 Grigsby, Convention of 1770, p. 107. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 369 

looked forward to a revolution and independence, the only- 
means of salvation. To us upon the spot, who have seen 
step by step the progress of this great contest, who knew 
the defenceless state of America in the beginning and the 
numberless difficulties we have had to struggle with ; taking 
a retrospective view of what has passed, we seem to have 
been treading upon enchanted ground.'"'* 

A general convention assembled in Richmond in Octo- 
ber, 1829, for the purpose of revising the state constitution. 
No set of men of more varied talents or riper experience 
and wisdom, had been organized as a public body, since 
the meeting of the state convention which ratified the 
federal constitution: among the conspicuous names were 
ex-presidents Madison and Monroe, Chief- Justice Marshall, 
B. W. Leigh, Judge Leigh, John Randolph, Gov. Giles, 
Chapman Johnson, Judge Phil. Barbour, Judge Stanard, 
Chas. Mercer, Jno. Cooke, Richard Morris, Judge Sum- 
mers, Judge Scott, Philip Doddridge, Judge Green Lit- 
tleton Tazewell, Gen. Ro. Taylor, Governor Pleasants, 
Judge Abel Upshur and others. 

The frame of government had been established prior to 
the declaration of independence and was therefore conse- 
crated in the affections of a large portion of the people by 
association with revolutionary scenes and recollections. 
While no serious inconvenience had been experienced,, some 
of the complaints, of those clamorous for reform, were in 
themselves reasonable. The grievance most earnestly 
dwelt upon was the unequal representation in the State 
Legislature. Counties of unequal size, wealth and popula 
tion were represented in State Councils by an equal number 
of delegates. 

M George Mason (Virginia Historical Register). 



370 /yV-ir.4r5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

The results of this convention was not entirely satisfac- 
tory, in fact it was the opinion of many that a third conven- 
tion might be necessary to ward off much practical mis- 
chief, which they feared might accrue to the state through 
this amended constitution.'-'' 

The General Assembly of 1851 passed some highly import- 
ant acts, one of which defines the position of Virginia to 
the United States, loyal to the Union, formed by the federal 
compact. Among a list of resolutions passed on the subject 
is one of a proposed Southern Congress * * * * 

"That Virginia, believing the Constitution of the 
United States, if faithfully administered, provides adequate 
protection to th'e rights of all the States of this confederacy 
and still looking to that instrument for defence within the 
Union, warned by the experience of the past, the dangers 
of the present, and the hopes of the future, invokes all who 
live under it, to adhere more strictly to it, and to preserve, 
inviolate, the safe-guards which it affords to the rights of 
individual States and the interests of sectional minorities. " 

VIRGINIA IN THE YEAR i860. 

"Parties may rise and fall; they divide, dissolve, dis- 
appear, but amid all these mutations, our country is still 
here to claim our loyal affection and service. 

"The voice of Virginia is still potential from the Potomac 
to the Rio Grande. Her sons are found in every county 
of every state throughout that wide region. 

"The counsels of her statesmen are regarded with as 
much respect in Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky 
and Texas as they are at home. Let her voice be heard 

15 Howe, History of Virginia p, 126. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 



371 



in any imminent crisis of the country and thousands would 
respond to it in everj^ Southern State." 

In i860 the administration of Virginia Government was 
placed in the hands of John Letcher, born 181 3, elected to 
Congress 185 1, who while holding that office under the 
United States Government, gained the soubriquet of 
"Honest John Letcher, the watch-dog of the Treasury'. " 







M 



Gen. R. E. Lee. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 373 

WASHINGTON AND LEE.^" 

"Great Mother of great Commonwealths," 

Men call om* Mother State: 
And she so well has earned this name 

That she may challenge Fate 
To snatch away the epithet 

Long given her of "great. " 

First of all Old England's outposts 

To stand fast upon these shores, 
Soon she brought a mighty harvest 

To a People's threshing floors; 
And more than golden grain was piled 

Within her ample doors. 

Behind her storm 3^ sunrise shone. 

Her shadow fell vast and long 
And her mighty Adm'ral English Smith 

Heads a prodigious throng 
Of mighty men, from Raleigh down. 

As ever arose in song. 

Her names are the shining arrows 

Which her ancient quiver bears. 
And their splendid sheaf has thickened 

Through the long march of the years : 
While her great shield has been burnished 

By her children's blood and tears. 

Our history is a shining sea 

Locked in by lofty land. 
And its great Pillars of Hercules 

Above the shining sand. 
There behold in majesty 

Uprising on each hand. 



i« "Lee Memorial Ode," by Virginia's laureate, James Barron Hope. 



374 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

These Pillars of our history, 

In fame forever young, 
Are known in every latitude, 

And named in every tongue, 
And down through all the ages 

Their story shall be sung. 

The Father of his Country 

Stands above that shut-in sea, 

A glorious symbol to the world 
Of all that's great and free : 

And today Virginia matches him— 
And matches him with Lee! 



376 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The Noble Red Man. Legend. 

" From the Land beyond his vision appear, a few sohtary 
white sails, far out in the blue water, seen with mysterious 
awe by the Indian, from the Atlantic shore, seeming like 
huge monsters from a spirit world. They move toward 
his land! 

"From out their sides pour forth a new, unheard of race, 
with faces pale, speech unknown and garments of singular 
texture and brilliant in colors. 

"The ring of the axe for the first time echoes through the 
wood. The habitations of the new race rise from the green 
earth. 

"On the ocean border, hundreds of leagues apart th(y 
cluster in detached collections; but far inland do not yet 
penetrate. 

"There the red man roams through the vast solitudes, un- 
conscious of the dark cloud rising in the east to overwhelm 
and sweep him from the land. 

"The settlements of the pale faces rapidly advance. They 
reach the oceanward slopes of the mountains: they pass 
over their summits. The smoke of their cabins curl up in 
the western valleys. The red man vanishes before them. 
Civilization is his conqueror and now the footsteps of 
millions of the new race press his grave and also those of 
his father. "^ 

1 Howe's "Great West." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 377 

"An Indian chief questions "The French claim all the 
country to the west and the English all to the east and 
west, where then is the country of the Indians?" 
' Echo, the voice of the future, answers " Where? " 

Many historians have portrayed the aborigines of North 
America, with whom the early settlers came in contact; 
giving us knowledge of their character, condition and cus- 
toms. These tribal races very soon displayed a distrust 
of the encroaching new comers, while the latter, with good 
reason, discovered concealed hostility in the attitude of the 
red men, and realized the unreliableness of those they 
must conciliate in order to obtain necessar}^ food and 
territory. 

Difference of time and circumstance to-day enable us to 
regard the Indian dispassionately and in the analysis of his 
character we find much to admire. History, romance and 
poetry have chosen the once despised savage for their 
theme. He has become a picturesque figure of the day, 
rich in color. A modem Canadian has painted him in 
allegory, standing tipon the brink of the Future — his back 
to the Past. With awakened sensibilities now he awaits 
the approaching bark. Progress, which bears the Christian 
banner and which is to carry him to his happy -hunting- 
fields in the regions beyond. The musician too seizes upon 
his quaint genius in music, and brings to us his chants and 
love songs, plaintive strains, in transcriptions such as 
Farwell's "Dawn" the greeting of the Zuni Indian to 
Morning. To the Pale Face with sensitive ear, the harsh 
notes of the war dance is less appealing, but the admirer 
of Opera-bouffe delights in the Red man as a motif, and 
popular fancy is caught by his national costumes and dances. 



378 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Contemporary historians have so inteyrlaced the narrative 
of Indian and Colonial life, we must be able to gather up 
detached items, to form* anything like a clear conception 
of Indian character and conduct. Their first impulses, 
expressed in the reception of the white stranger, were 
kindly, but suspicion of his intentions being aroused, 
they consulted their deities for direction, and trusting 
implicitly their response, the imagined advice was followed 
without question. Growing distrust led to concerted 
measures for aggressive attack and persecution of the 
stranger,' against whom the}^ now directed all their energies. 

Like the superstitious peoples of the East, their ideas of 
all things were grounded upon symbolism and this must 
be interpreted after their manner, to find the meaning of 
their lives, their motives of action. Many of these symbols 
reach us through their legends ; some of the more interesting 
of which are associated with the tender passions, not 
always ascribed to the savage disposition. 

A very touching legend concerns two lovers whose story 
came to an untimely termination by the death of the lady- 
love. Her body was interred upon the top of a solitary 
hillock overlooking a beautiful valley, their former try sting 
place ; and here the bereft one came bringing his flute every 
night and morning and essayed to console himself for the 
separation, with a love-song composed to her memory. At 
the end of a year, (Indian cohonk, symbolized by the flight 
of wild fowl, their mode of computing that period of time) 
a bone from one of her arms appeared above the mound. 
Accepting this as a token of remembrance from his dear 
one, he'*'discarded his reed and converting the limb into a 
musical instrument ever afterwards substituted this novel 
flute for the less sacred one. Tradition asserts that the 



5^'-n;.4r5 of Virginia history 379 

soil Is of the twain, now united, still haunt the burial spot 
and that at sunrise andsunset may beheardin the zephyrs 
of Dawn and Dusk, the strains of the mystical invocation. 

To the editor of the Library of American History. (Leavitt 
and Allen, N. Y.) we are indebted for a just interpretation of 
the Indian, his ability and virtue. Through the informa- 
tion here given we can appreciate the unfairness of other 
history, (affected by traditions of barbarities perpetrated,) 
which gives a point of view always in favor of the whites. 

"Little did their Sachems suppose that leaders of fiction 
would take Indian warriors and orators as heroes to cele- 
brate in epic pride: could they have foreseen, it would have 
sweetened their cup of misery. " 

The finest, tribute to the Indian is found in this Library 
where the editor grows eloquent over the Braves, their 
deeds of valor and expressions of noble sentiment, which 
make them models for civilized orators and trained soldiers. 
"If viewed in the light of progress the Indian stands low 
in the ranks of the human race, yet look at him as a patriot, 
an orator and a philosopher, and he is seen in bold relief 
and lifts his head among men. War and hunting were 
the great objects of his existence. 

'■'The eloquence of the Indian is bold, direct and often 
impassioned and comes with a sincerity that gives it a 
charm which the orator of refinement ofte^i loses in his 
subtlety. There is a decorum in the eloquence of the Coun- 
cil-fire which exceeds in grace and courtesy all that was 
ever enforced by parliamentarv* usages or congressional 
rules and orders. 

"They are admirable historians, having no records but 
their memories and observations, but many accurate 
traditions, which carried down for ages are often more 



380 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

accurate than pages of history, their method of making 
known every event to the whole tribe makes every member 
of the family an historian. " 




^^=^=^ POM^HATAISr ^r--'" 

J^/c/ t/iisjfate 6LJcfhum -when Cu/'/lSmit/i 
--was deiiiiermik^ him jyripner 

In their histories of the Indians of Eastern Virginia, Smith 
and Beverley, state that Powhatan was remarkable for the 
strength of his body as well as the energies of his mind, and 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 381 

commanded a respect rarely paid by the savages to their 
werowance (king). Maintaining a dignity, worthy the 
monarch of thirty nations, he was constantly attended by a 
guard of forty warriors and during the night a sentry 
regularly watched his palace ; when he slept, one of his women 
sat at his head and another at his feet ; when he dined they 
attended him with water and brought a bunch of feathers 
to wash his hands. 

History is generally silent as to the role of woman in 
Indian life but occasionally an author has given space in 
his pages to this subject and in his Discourse, Percy has 
some of these exceptional leaves from which we gather 
a few hints. An interesting item is their fashion of arrang- 
ing their hair. "There is notice to be taken to know 
married women from maids: the Maids you shall always 
see the forepart of their head and sides shaven close, the 
hinder part very long, which they tie in a plaite hanging 
downe to their hips. The married women weares their 
haire all of a length and is tied of that fashion, as the maids 
are. The women kinde in this Country doth pounce and 
race their bodies, legges, thighes, arms and faces with a 
sharpe Iron which makes a stampe in curious knots, and 
drawes the proportion of Fowles, Fish or Beasts then with 
paintings of sundry colours, they rub it into the stampe 
which will never be taken away because it is dried into the 
Fleshe where it is seared." 

"I saw Bread made by their women which doe all their 
drugerie. The manner of making bread is thus; after 
they pound their wheat into floure with hote water, they 
make it into a paste and work it into round balls and cakes 
then they put it into a pot of seething water; when it is 
sod thoroughly they lay it on a smooth stone and there 
they harden it as well as in an Oven. 



382 Br-ir.4rs' of Virginia history 

"The women of the Powhatan Confederacy had consider- 
able weight: and some of the tribes even had female 
sachems. Recorders were greatly impressed by the anx- 
ious inquiries of Pocahontas's family, respect ng her health 
and her feelings, her content and her return, and by the 
great sorrow caused by her death. 

"As to their duties it belonged to the women, to plant 
the corn and attend to all of the work of their gardens; 
this was no unequal division, for the labor was trifling and 
the warriors being engaged in war and hunting had not 
leisure for such objects. All the honors of an Indian com- 
munity were maternal, and the children in event of a sepa- 
ration belonged to the wife; the husband being considered 
as a visitor: should any difference arise, he took up his 
gun and departed: nor did this separation entail any 
disgrace upon the parties concerned. " 

In the matter of religion the Indians, according to the 
same authorities, were grossly superstitious and even 
idolatrous. 

Brown says with every king was buried all his wealth 
for they believed " that he who dieth richest liveth in another 
world happiest." 

" They had a number of festivals which were celebrated 
with the utmost festivity. They solemnized a day for 
the plentiful coming of their wild fowl, for the returns of 
their hunting seasons and for the ripening of certain fruits. 
But their greatest festival was at the time of corn-gather- 
ing at which they revelled several days together. To these 
they universally contributed as they did at the gathering 
of the com. On this occasion they had their greatest 
variety of pastimes, war dances and heroic songs in which 
they boasted that their com being now gathered, they 



'i'-Tr.4F5 OF VIRGIXIA IflSTORY 



383 



had store enough for their women and children and had 
nothing to do but go to war, travel and seek for new adven- 
tures. There was a second annual festival conducted with 
still greater solemnity commencing with a fast which ex- 
ceeded any abstinence known among the most mortified 
hermits. The fast was followed by a feast. The old fire 
was put out and a new fire called the drill fire started by 
the friction of two pieces of wood: they sprinkled sand on 




Indian Dance. 

the hearths. At this meeting all crimes except murder 
were pardoned and the bare mention of them afterwards 
was considered disreputable. At the close of this festival, 
which continued four days, a funeral procession commenced, 
the signification of which was that they- buried all the past 
in oblivion and the criminals having tasted of the concoc- 
tion of casina were permitted to sit down beside the men 
they had injured." 

The peculiarities of their belief gave meaning to their 
manner of invoking the Great Spirit. 

They believed that the white men had come from under the 
world to take their world from them. Assuming an earnest- 
ness in that belief, we must grant a show of reason for much 



384 



BY-WAYS OF \'IRGINIA HISTORY 



outrageous conduct which seemed but a display of brutality — 
the expression of savage and vengeful instinct. 

Stith says "To the remonstances of some persons in the 
colony against the worship of demons, the Indians of 
Virginia answered that they believed in two great spirits, 
a good and an evil one ; and that the first was a being sunk 
in the enjoyment of everlasting indolence and ease, who 
showered down blessings indiscriminately from the skies, 
leaving man to scramble for them as they chose and totally 



iiii 







Tiillillllii'lM'll'-f 



Indian God '"Okee." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 387 

That peerless maid — the "pearl of all her tribe" 

As evening fair, when coming night and day 

Contend together which shall wield its sway. 

But here abashed, my paltry fancy stays; 

For her, too humble its most statelj^ lays. 

A shade of twilight's softest, sweetest gloom — 

The dusk of morning — formed a splendid tomb 

In England's glare: so strange, so vast, so bright 

The dusk of morning burst in splendid light 

Which falleth through the Past's cathedral aisles 

Till sctilptured Mercy like a seraph smiles 

And though Fame's grand and consecrated fane 

No kingly statue may in time, retain 

Her name shall linger, nor with age grow faint 

Its simple sound — the image of a saint. "^ 

The life of Pocahontas was embraced within a short 
period of time, but those years were very eventful and 
measured by their importance to the colony, might fill many 
■a page in history. 

Her innate goodness accomplished as great results as 
could have been obtained by the most subtle and matured 
diplomacy. Her prompt sympathy and assistance relieved 
Smith and his companions in times of distress ; her influence 
over her powerful father, and watchfulness of his designs, 
enabled them to retain possession of land they had acquired; 
her marriage with Rolfe established friendly relations 
during that father's life and for a time at least, disarmed 
Indian suspicion and hostility: all of which resulted in 
good to the adventurers personally and the general advance- 
ment of colonial interests in Virginia. 

Of Pocahontas we first hear in the winter of 1608, when 
Smith had been brought a prisoner before Powhatan and 



* "Anniversaty Ode" 1857. Jas. Barron Hope. 



388 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

was about to be killed. A girl of tender years, she was 
yet at an age when an English child would have been under 
the charge of her nurse, and unacquainted with aught but 
juvenile amusements. Together with her sister she sat, 
beside the great and much-feared Powhatan^ at the Council 
(Matchacomoco) which was to decide the fate of Smith. 

She was doubtless familiar with scenes of horror, so the 
prompt rescue attempted by her only, amid a crowd of 
savages, indicated phenomenal tenderness and the success 
of her appeal proved the Chief's love for his daughter. 
Also — as her people's mode of warfare, and summary 
manner of slaughtering the enemy at their mercy, must 
have inured her to the sight of shocking butcheries, — 
we may believe that her intercession arose from a feeling 
of especial pity for the white stranger, one alone among 
foreign people. 

Writing sometime later to the Queen, his mistress, of the 
services she rendered him and the colony. Smith tells of 
"Some ten years agoe when being in Virginia and taken 
prisoner by the power of Powhatan, their cheefe king, I 
received from this great salvage exceeding great courtesie 
especial from his sonne, Nantaquaus, the most manliest, 
boldest spirit I ever saw in a Salvage and his sister Poca- 
hontas, the King's most deare and w^ell-beloved daughter, 
being but a childe, whose compassionate, pitifull heart 
of my desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect her. 
At the minute of my execution, she hazarded the beating 
out of her own braines to save mine; and not that onely, 
but so prevailed with her father that I was safely conducted 

■• Stith, p. 58, Powhatan sat on a bed of mats, with a pillow of leather embroidered 
with pearls and white beads and was clothed with a robe of skins as large as an Irish 
m.antle. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 389 

to Jamestown where had not the salvages fed us, we 
directly had starved, and this relief e was brought us by 
this Lady Pocahontas. " 

Upon Newport's arrival with gifts from the English 
king to Powhatan, Smith went to carry notice of the 
intended presentation, but finding the chief away from 
home, was entertained, while waiting his return, by Poca- 
hontas and her maidens with one of their dances, which is 
thus described by Belknap. "In an open plain, — (a fire 
being made) — Smith and his compam^ were seated in it. 
Suddenly a noise was heard in the adjacent wood, which 
made them fly to their arms and seize on two or three old 
men as hostages for their security, imagining that they were 
betrayed. Upon this the young princess came running 
to Smith and passionately offered herself to be killed if 
any harm should happen to him or his companions. Her 
assurances removed their fears. The noise which had 
alarmed them was made by thirty girls who were preparing 
for the intended ceremony. Immediately they made their 
appearance, wearing a girdle of green leaves and their skins 
painted, each a different color. Their leader had a pair of 
buck's horns on her head, an otter's skin as her girdle and 
another on one arme; a bow and arrow in the other hand 
and a quiver at her back. 

"The rest of them had horns on their heads and a wooden 
sword or staff in their hands. With shouting and singing 
they formed a ring round the fire and performed a circular 
dance for about an hour, after which they retired in the 
same order as they had advanced. A feast followed and 
this being ended they conducted the gentlemen to their 
lodging by the light of firebrands." The dance with her 
companions gives a suggestion of her happy frolicsome 



390 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

life: her friendliness for the English visitors is shewn in 
the willingness to amuse them and afterwards hospitably 
to provide for their refreshment and repose. 

Through Strackey's report we learn that the name, 
Pocahontas, meant little wanton, a term suggesting that 
she was a beloved and petted child; and nothing hurtful 
seems to have come into her life, though she passed through 
the time when vice stalked abroad in all its deformity. A 
few years longer this little wanton lived in happy freedom 
among her own people. 

Smith's captivity and release had produced an intercourse 
with the savages, so we are not surprised to find that 
Pocahontas frequently visited the plantations with her 
attendants. On one occasion, at the risk of being dis- 
covered and punished, she escaped in the night and ran 
nine miles to warn the colonists of a plot, instigated by the 
advice of a treacherous Dutchman, against them, which she 
overheard Powhatan and his councillors discussing. This 
service was illy repaid later by her betrayal and imprison- 
ment — which, however, resulted happilv for all concerned. 

After Smith's return to England she had again an oppor- 
tunity of rendering timely service to the colonists. Rat- 
cliff e, accompanied by thirty men, went in a vessel up the 
river to trade with Powhatan, when all of the party lost 
their lives but two men ' ' who were saved by the humanity 
of Pocahontas. " 

Of his intention and success in capturing her. Captain 
Argall himself tells "The Great Powhatan's Daughter, 
Pocahontas, was with the great king Patowomeck, whether 
I presently repaired, resolving to possess my self e of her 
by any stratagem that I could use for the ransoming of 
so many Englishmen as were prisoners with Powhatan 



By-U'A]-S OF VIRGIXIA UISTOR)' ;391 

and this I accomplished through intimidations and promises 
of assistance to this great king, Patowomeck, who cahed 
his Counsell together, and after some houres deUberation, 
concluded rather to deliver her into my hands, than lose 
my friendship, so that presently he delivered her into my 
Boat." 

Grahame also gives the reason which actuated Argall 
in capturing Pocahontas. "Captain Argall was despatched 
to the Potomac for a cargo of corn ; here he learned that 
Pocahontas was living in retirement at no great distance 
from him, and hoping by possession of her person to attain 
such an ascendant over Powhatan as would enforce an 
ample contribution of provisions, he prevailed on her by 
some artifice to come on board his vessel and then set sail 
with her to Jamestown, where she was detained in a state 
of honorable captivity. " 

Brown says "Pocahontas was brought a prisoner to 
Jamestown in April, 1631, on that piratical ship called the 
Treasurer, which six years later brought the first negroes 
to the Colony." 

"Argall entered into acquaintance with Japazaws, the 
Sachem (the Indian employed to entrap Pocahontas) — 
an old friend of Captain Smith, and of all the English who 
had come to America. In his territory the princess was 
concealed. Argall bargained' with him to bring her on 
board the ship under pretence of a visit with his own wife. 
He then carried Pocahontas to Jamestown where she had 
not been since Capt. Smith left the country." 

In a letter of Chamberlain's (quoted in "Genesis of 
America") there is given an explicit account of the effect 



sjapazaws offered to sell Pocahontas fot- a copper-kettle and the bargain was 
made."— Howe. 



392 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

of this exploit upon affairs in the settlement "There is a 
ship come from Virginia with newes of theyre well doing 
which put some life into that action that before was almost 
at the last cast. They have taken a daughter of the King 
that was their greatest enemie as she was going a feasting 
upon a river to visit certain friends: for whose ransome 
the father offers whatsoever is in his power and to become 
theyre friend and to bring them where they shall meet with 
gold mines: they propound unto him, three conditions, to 
deliver all the^ English fugitives, to render all manner of 
arms or weapons of theyres, that are come to his hands and 
to give them 300 quarters of corn. The first two he per- 
formed readilie and promiseth the other at theyre har\'est 
If his daughter may be well used in the meantime. But 
this ship brought no commodoties from thence but only 
these fay re tales and hopes. " 

History represents Pocahontas as a woman distinguished 
by her personal attractions. Detained a prisoner'' she met 
and was won by John Rolfe, a colonist who had landed 
in May, 161 1, — a man twenty-six-years of age, — and whom 
shemarriedin April, 1614, (N. S.), one year after her capture. 
The marriage met with the approbation of her father, who 
sent her uncle and her two brothers to witness the ceremony, 
which was solemnized with great pomp, according to the 
rites of the Episcopal church, at Jamestown. 

His great satisfaction in this marriage mitigated Powha- 
tan's feelings towards Rolfe's people and during the remain- 
der of his life he continued on friendly terms with them. 

Stith writes of the home into which Pocahontas was 
carried — "Master John Rolfe, sometime secretary of the 
Colony, had his habitation at Varina, where he cultivated 



5 It is related that being well entreated Pocahontas became a Christian. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 393 

a fine tract of land. Having married the Indian maid at 
Jamestown under the eye and sanction of Sir Thomas Dale, 
in the year 1613, (O. S.) , he brought her here where they con- 
tinued to live in happy wedlock, and ever after they had 
peaceable trade and commerce as well with Powhatan as 
with all his subjects. " 

In the spring of 161 6 Pocahontas accompanied her 
husband on a visit to England, again a passenger aboard 
the Treasurer, but now a happy wife. While in London 
her portrait was painted: this represents her as dressed 
according to the fashion of the day, with tall crowned hat 
and stiffly starched ruff, etc. From this model, owned by 
a member of the Rolfe family in England, pictures of her 
in general circulation have been copied. This is valuable 
because a life picture: and has inscribed on it her age, the 
dat^ her various names, parentage, conversion, baptism 
and marriage. 

There are evidences that many pictures have been drawn 
of her at various times, some entireh^ imaginative. In a 
letter,^ dated 161 7, from Chamberlain to Sir Dudley 
Carleton there is reported "The Virginia woman, whose 
picture, I sent you, died this last week at Gravesend, as she 
was returning home. "^ A portrait of her was in the home 
of John Randolph of Roanoke, Charlotte County. "Among 
the many pictures and portraits in these rooms is one of 
Pocahontas. The arms are bare to the elbow, displaying 
an arm and hand of exquisite beauty. The hair and eyes 
are a raven black, the latter remarkably expressive and the 

' Alexander Brown. 

' "Early in 1617 John Rolfe prepared to embark for Virginia, with his wife and 
child in Capt'n Argall's vessel, "the George." Pocahontas was reluctant to return." 
—Campbell, p. 120. 



394 Bi'-ir.41'5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

whole countenance surpassing lovely and beaming with 
intelligence and benignity." 

A portrait in Heacham Hall, Heacham, England, portrays 
her with her little son," the infant at her death, — grown 
to severa! vears of age, her own face proportionately 
matured. 

One of her most attractive portraits represents her as 
still ver}' young, clothed with the native fur-fringed 
robe, loosely wound around her figure, and that left 
uncramped in its graceful proportions and ease of posture. 

The visit of Pocahontas to England furnished a theme 
for manv writers and created an excitement and interest 
at court. 

The Rev. Samuel Puixhas. of the parish of Thaxted in 
Essex, a friend of John Smith, notes his impressions of her. 
"She did not only accustom herself to civilitie but still 
carried herself as the daughter of a king, and was accordingly 
respected. 

"Dr. King, the Lord Bishop of London, entertained her 
with festival and state and pomp beyond what I have seen 
in his great hospitalitie afforded to other ladies. At her 
return towards Virginia, she came to Gravesend, to her 
end and grave." History records that this author drew 
upon Smith's narrative for his subject matter in his " Pil- 
giimes," not being familiar with Virginia records, but in 
this relation of the reception of Pocahontas and her deport- 
ment, he asserts "I was present." Brown states that she 
was lionized, entertained and amused; that the Lord and 
Lady de la Warr introduced her at court. 

Smith thought that a letter of commendation from him 
to the Queen would insure her a welcome, and so "before 

9 His father had left him in England because too young to travel to America. 



By-]VA]'S OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 395 

Pocahontas arrived at London, to deserve her former 
courtesies, Captain Smith made her quaHties knowne to 
the Queene's most excellent Majestie and her court and 
writ a little booke to this effect to the Queene. " He met 
her during her stay in London, but the interview seemis to 
have afforded less satisfaction than she had anticipated, 
in fact, despite the attention she attracted (because of the 
reputation and notoriety — which preceded her arrival — 
her grace of person and gentle and pleasing manner) the 
contrast of the life she had left and that into which she had 
been transplanted, seems to have filled her with sadness 
and in recalling her disappointment, a feeling of regret must 
be felt that her sickness, death and burial occurred in a 
foreign land, so far away from her childhood's home and 
all associations of her youth. 

Rolfe was preparing to return to. Virginia when his wife 
was taken ill and died, March 21, 161 7, aged twenty-two 
years; leaving an infant son, Thomas Rolfe, from whom 
are descended several families of Virginia, who held their 
lands by inheritance from her. Stith traces thus the 
descent from Pocahontas. Her son Thomas, educated 
in England, came to Virginia where he became a man of 
fortune and distinction and inherited a large tract of land, 
through his grandfather, Powhatan. 

Thomas Rolfe left an only daughter who married Col. 
Robert Boiling. Their son, Major John Boiling was father 
of Col. John Boiling, Jr., whose five daughters married, 
Col. Richard Randolph, Col. John Fleming, Dr. William 
Ga3^ Mr. Thomas Eldridge and Mr. James Murray. Such 
was the state of the family in 1747. Campbell says "Col. 
Theodorick Bland, Jr., born in 1742, was a descendant of 
Pocahontas. He was a native of Prince George County, 



396 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

was educated in England and in 1761 studied medicine in 
Edinburgh. Among the first Virginians who devoted 
themselves to this study, which was little cultivated in the 
colony, he is entitled to the merit of having been one of its 
earliest pioneers." 

William Wirt, "sometime attorney-general," writes in 
the " British Spy" of a visit he made to the site of Powha- 
tan's village, the home of Pocahontas' youth and Wirt 
thinks "probably the birthplace of that princess." "The 
town was built on the river about two miles below the 
head of tidewater. The Indians built their habitations 
in such a slight manner, no vestige of the town remains. 
I could not help recalling the principal features of her 
history: the arrival of the English, their great ship, with 
her sails spread, advancing in solemn majesty, their com- 
plexion, dress and language; their domestic animals; cargo 
of new and glittering wealth; the thunder and irresistible 
force of their artillery; their distant country, beyond the 
great water of which the oldest Indian had never dreamed. 
I have little doubt that Pocahontas deserves to be con- 
sidered as the patron deity of the enterprise, that but for her 
patronage, the anniversary cannon of July the Fourth 
would never have resounded throughout the United States. 

"Probably this sensible and amiable woman, perceiving 
the probability of the subjugation of her countrymen and 
anxious as well to soften their destiny, as to save the needless 
effusion of human blood, desired by her marriage with 
Rolfe to hasten the abolition of distinction between Indians 
and white men; to bind their interests and affections by 
the nearest ties and to make them regard themselves as 
one people." 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 397 

Cawson's, the birthplace of Randolphj^^is described by 
Garland in his "Biography" as "on a commanding 
promontory near the mouth of the Appomattox river 
in Prince George county. It had been the family seat 
of CoL Theoderic Bland, Sr., "After winding amidst 
the woody islands around the base of the hill, the river 
spreads out into a wide bay and together with the James, 
into which it empties, makes towards the north and east 
a beautiful river prospect, embracing in one view, Shirley, 
the seat of the Carters ; Bermuda Hundred with its harbor 
and ships; City Point, and others of less note. In the 
midst of this commanding scene the old mansion house 
reared its ample proportions and with its ofiEices and 
extended wings, was not an unworthy representative of the 
baronial days, in which it was built: when Virginia cava- 
liers, with the title of gentlemen, with their broad domain 
of virgin soil and long retinue of servants lived in a style 
of elegance and profusion not inferior to the barons of 
England and dispensed a hospitality which more than 
half a century of sub-division and decay has not entirely 
become effaced from the memory of their impoverished 
descendants. At Cawson's scarcely a vestige remains 
of former grandeur. The old mansion -was burned many 
years ago. Randolph writes of a visit he paid to his birth- 
place 'the seat of my ancestors on one side, and spot where 
my dear mother was given in marriage,' where he found 
desolation and stillness as of death, the fires of hospitality 
long since quenched. " 



2'Born June 2d, 1773, the 7th in descent from Pocahontas; a son of John Randolph 
of Matoax on the Appomattox, near Petersburg: his mother, the daughter of Theo- 
deric Bland, Jr. Randolph died at Philadelphia, May 24th, 1833. 



398 BY-WAYS OF \'IRGIXIA HISTORY 

There is a tradition that the island of Gwyn, on the east 
side of Matthews county in Chesapeake Bay, was given by 
Pocahontas in token of gratitude for her rescue from drown- 
ing, when she was attempting to swim across the Pianka- 
tank river. The island is at the mouth of the principal 
stream in the county, (named for Gen. George Matthews, 
a Revolutionary soldier, and formed from Gloucester) 
a peninsular almost entirely surrounded by water, as it 
extends out into the bav, arid is only united by a narrow 
neck, scarcely a mile wide, to the main land. Owing to the 
land being almost level, there are no streams of fresh water 
running through the county : wind and tide mills are used 
for grinding grain. The Court-house or Westville, near the 
centre of the county, is a port of entr\^ being on a small 
stream putting up from East river. 

In June, 1776, several months after the turning of 
Norfolk, Lord Dunmore left Hampton Roads and landing 
vipon Gwvn's island, fortified himself there with his whole 
fleet. They endured great suffering from small-pox and 
other malignant diseases, and upon being attacked by the 
Virginians under Gen. Lewis, evacuated the island with 
the greatest precipitation. The effects of one Mr. John 
Grimes, consisting of thirty-five negroes, a number of 
horses, cattle and furniture being left on the island, 
were captured by the American troops."^ 

In the "Virginians" Thackeray makes Mr. Warrington 
write a play introducing a poem to Pocahontas: explaining^ 
that" the English public not being so well acquainted with the 
history of Pocahontas, as we of Virginia, who still love the 
simple and kindly creature, at the suggestion of friends, 
I made a little ballad about this Indian princess, which was 
printed in the magazines. "Spencer declared that the 

29 Howe, Antiquities. 



5r-Tr.41'5 OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 399 

poem was discussed and admired at several coffee-houses^" 
in his hearing and that it had been attributed to Mr. Mason, 
Mr. Cowper, of the Temple and even to the famous Mr. Gray. 

Wearied arm and broken sword, 

Wage in vain the desperate fight, 
Round him press a covmtl ess horde — 

He is hxxt a single knight. 
Hark a cry of triumph shrill 

Through the wilderness resounds, 

As with twenty bleeding wounds 
Sinks the warrior lighting still. 

Now they heap the fatal pyre, 

And the torch of death thej' light. 
Ah! 'tis hard to die of fire! 

Who will shield the Captive knight ? 
Round the stake with fiendish cry 

W^heel and dance the savage crowd. 

Cold the victim's mien and proud 
And his breast is bared to die. 

Who will shield the fearless heart? 

Who avert the murderoiis blade? 
From the throng with sudden start 

See there springs an Indian maid. 
Quick she stands before the knight, 

'Loose the chain, unbind the ring: 

I am daughter of the king, 
.Vnd I claim the Indian right!' 



30 The coffee-house supplied in some measure the place of a journal. Thitlicr the 
Londoners Hocked as the Athenians of old flocked to the market place to hear 
whether there was any news. IJut people who lived at a distance from the great 
theatre of political contention could b(! kept regularly informed of what was 
passing there only by means of news-letters. To prepare such letters became a 
calling in I/ondon as it now is among the natives of India. The ne\Vs-writer 
rambled from coffee-room, to coffee-room, collecting reports; squeezed himself 
into the Sessions House at the Old Bailey, if there was an interesting trial, 
obtained admission to the gallery of Whitehall and noticed how the king and duke 
looked. Such were the sources from which the inhabitants of the largest provin- 
cial cities and the great body of the gentry and clergy, learned almost all they 
knew of the histry of their own time. — Macaulay. 



400 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Dauntlessly aside she flings 

Lifted axe and thirsty knife, 
Fondly to his heart she dings, 

And her bosom guards his hfe! 
In the woods of Powhatan 

Still 'tis told by Indian fires. 

How a daughter of their sires 
Saved the Capti^"e Englishman. " 

The author says he made the acquaintance of the brave 
Captain Smith, in his grandfather's hbrary where he would 
spell out the exploits of the Virginia hero : and he tells how 
he loved to read of Smith's travels, sufferings, captures and 
escapes. 

The sweetest lines penned in memory of the Indian 
maid, came from James Barron Hope's poem of "Three 
Names" which contains a couplet to Pocahontas. 

"Her story, sure, was fashioned out above 

Ere it was enacted on the scene below ! 

For 'twas a very miracle of love, 

When from the savage hawk's nest came the dove, 

With wings of peace to stay the ordered blow — 

The hawk's plumes bloody, but the dove's as snow. 

And here my heart oppressed by pleasant tears 
Yield to a young girl's half angelic spell — 
Yes, for that maiden like a saint appears 
She needs no fresco, stone nor shrine to tell 
Her story to the people of this Land — 
Saint of the Wilderness, enthroned amid 
The wooded Minster where the pagan hid. " 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA I STORY 401 

The remains of Pocahontas were interred at Gravesend, 
England, where she died. The inscription on her tomb 
reads : 

"Rebecca Wrothe wyffe of 
Thomas Wrothe, gent. A. Virginia 
Lady borne was buried in the Chauncell. 
(sentto theVa. His. Reg. by Robert Joynes, Rector, 1849.) 

In those vast forests dwelt a race of kings 
Free as the eagle when he spreads his wings — 
His wings which never in their wild flight lag 
In mists which fly the fierce tornado's flag 
Their flight, the eagle's! and their name alas! 
The eagle's shadow swooping o'er the grass, 
Or, as it fades it well may seem to be 
The shade of tempest driv^en o'er the sea! "^' 

At the time the colonists landed in Virginia, 1607, the 
country between the mountains and the sea was inhabited 
by a confederacy. of thirty tribes, 8,000 in number, over 
whom Powhatan ruled; their dominions extending over 
the land lying south of the Potomac, between the coast 
and the falls of rivers. Besides these there were thirteen 
tribes not united with the confederacy. Certain of Powha- 
tan's possessions had descended to him from his ancestors 
and these lay on James River. 

1. Powhatan 4. Pamunkey 

2. Arrowhattock 5. Youghtamund 

3. Appamattock 6. Mattapoment. 

His favorite seats were Powhatan, on James River, about 
a mile below the falls, where Richmond stands: and Wer- 
owocomoco^^ on the north side of York River, in what is 
now known as Gloucester county. The settlers, coming 

31 "Anniversary Ode" 1857. 
'2 Smith, Vol. II, p. 142. 



402 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

from Gloucestershire in England, transferred the names of 
places and streams there ; the county seat is about opposite 
York town. 

" Werowocomoco, so celebrated in early colonial chroni- 
cles, was the scene of many interviews and engagements 
between the Indians and the settlers : the name of the river 
upon which it was situated was derived from one of the 
tribes." Smith describes this river, Pamaunkee, as being 
"fourteen myles northward from the town Powjiatan" 
and about twenty-five myles from where the river divides, 
lower on the north side of this riv'ei" is Werowocomoco, — 
where their great werowance inhabited, — a site nearly 
opposite to Queen's creek. 

Next neighbors to Powhatan, were the Chickahomnie 
tribe, who, when they heard of Pocahontas' marriage, sent 
deputies and submitted by solemn treaty to become subjects 
of King James, and to submit to his governors in the colony ; 
to pay tribute, and furnish men to fight against whatever 
enemies should attack the colony only stipulating, that 
at home, they should continue to be governed by their 
own laws. '■ -^ . 

But not all neighboring tribes" were friendly to each 
other and there were several combined against the Powhatan 
confederacv: one, the Manakins, consisted of five tribes 
and were settled between York and James rivers above 
the falls, occupying the land, which later was embraced in 
Powhatan county in which they had a town. Their allies 
were the Mannahoacks, who inhabited the country lying 
between the Rappahannock and York rivers, numbering 
eight tribes in their settlement. These peoples had dis- 
appeared from that part of the colony towards the close of 
the seventeenth century; and Beverley tells of the arrival 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 403 

in 1699, i^ several batches, aggregating 800 persons of 
French Huguenots, refugees fleeing from France — after 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685- — on account 
of religious persecution and sent over by King William ; — 
who were advised to " seat on a very rich piece of land about 
twenty miles above the falls of the James, formerly the 
seat of a very great and warlike nation called Monocans. " 

The French refugees were naturalized by an especial law, 
provision being made for them until they were able to 
provide for themselves. 

Smith writes of conditions in the colony at the time of the 
massacre " In the yeere of our Lord 1622, there were about 
seven or eight thousand English indifferently well-furnished 
with most necessaries and many of them grew to that 
height of bravery, living in that plenty and excesse, that 
went hither not worth anything, made the company here 
thinke all the world was Oatmeale there and all this pro- 
ceeded by surviving those that died, nor were they ignorant 
to use as curious tricks there as here, and out of the juice 
of Tobacco which at first they sold at such good rates they 
regarded nothing but Tobacco, a commodity then so 
vendable, it provided them all things: and the loving 
Salvages, their kinde friends, they trained so .well up to 
shoot in a Piece to hunt and kill them fowle, they became 
more expert than our own Coimtry-men, whose labours 
were more profitable to their Masters in planting Tobacco 
and other businesse. " 

These colonists were scattered over the province on 
plantations reckoned by hundred acres, hence to the names 
given by the owners, was added the descriptive title-hundred 
which adhered to the places for many years and have not 
entirely disappeared at this date. 



404 BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 

Among the early records of the corporation of Henrico 
are found the following: 

On the northerly ridge of James river, from the falls 
down to Henrico, containing ten miles in length, are the 
public lands, surveyed and laid out; whereof 10,000 acres 
form the university lands, 3,000 acres fc^rm the company's 
lands, with other lands belonging to the college. The 
common land for that corporation was 1,500 acres. 

On the southerly side, beginning from the falls, there are 
there patented, viz: 

Acres Acres 

John Peterson 100 Peter Nemenart no 

Anthony Edwards 100 William Perry 100 

Nathaniel Norton 100 John Plower 100 

John Proctor 200 Surveyed for the use 

Thomas Tracy 100 of the iron- works. 

John Vithard 100 Edward Hudson 100 

Francis Weston 300 Thomas Morgan 150 

Phettiplace Close 100 Thomas Sheffield 150 

John Price 1 50 

COSENDALE WITHIN THE CORPORATION OF 
HENRICO. 

Lieut. Edward Barckley. .112 Peter Nemenart 40 

Richard Poulton 100 Thomas Tindall 100 

Robert Analand 200 Thomas Reed 100 

John Griffin 50 John Laydon 200 

The clergymen in Virginia at this time were the Rev'ds 
Whitaker, Mease, (or Mays) Stockham and Bargrave.^^ 

The massacre which occurred on March 22d, 1622, broke 
up many plantations and scattered the inhabitants to other 
quarters. 

33 CampbeU, p. 158. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 405 

"The great emperor, Powhatan, a man of consummate art 
and dignity — active in mind, inventive in council, prompt 
in execution and bold in danger — full of years of martial 
activity died in peace in 1618, then upwards of seventy 
years of age.^^ His proper name was W akunsonacock , but 
he was given the names, Ottaniack and Mamanatowick 
at times." Beverley adds to his dominions, already men- 
tioned, Werowocomoco and Kiskiack (later corrupted into 
Cheescake) 

Though English skill overpowered his native ingenuity, 
his defeat could not obscure his exalted powers, and history 
respectfully records the superiority of his mind and aims 
over those of the civilized monarch, with whom he had to 
contend. 

The marriage of Pocahontas, eminently satisfactory to 
her father had not produced the lasting good understanding 
between the settlers and natives it seemed to betoken. 
Anticipating other intermarriages, the natives became 
offended at the refusal of the whites to become husbands of 
Indi 



lan women. 



35 



Succeeding Powhatan, as chief over his own and neighbor- 
ing tribes, Opechancanough was distinguished by his 
courage, dissimulation and hatred of the new inhabitants and 
though he renewed the friendly treaty made by Powhatan 
it was only to conceal his real motive, to avail himself of 
the tranquilit}^ produced, in preparing his plans for the 
ten-ible tragedy, to the carrying out of which he now 
devoted himself. 

Using his acknowledged jealousy of another chief, 
Nematanow, "Jack of the Feather," to embroil the English 

s* Campbell. 
35 Belknap. 



406 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

in a quarrel with that tribe, the incident of the chief's 
killing one Morgan, storekeeper, which resulted in the 
Indian's death at the "hands of Morgan's peeple, gave 
excuse for the display of his rancorous hatred. While pre- 
tending to share the indignation of his people, Opechan- 
canough counterfeited placability, assuring the English 
that 'the sky should soonei fall than peace be broken by 
him,' and yet he was secretly planning the most severe 
blow that befel the young colony, verifying the saying that 
man in a state of nature is prone to violence. 

"Upon the day selected for the massacre, under various 
pretences, the savages assembled around the unguarded 
settlements. 

"Some carried presents of fish and game, others presented 
themselves as guests, seeking hospitality, on the evening 
before the massacre. Not an unguarded look of exultation 
occurred to disclose the designs of ferocity. 

"Entire destruction was prevented by the revelation 
of one Indian convert, who was made privy to the plot by 
his own brother communicating to him the command of 
the Indian king to share in the exploit. This convert, 
informed an Englishman,^" in whose house he was residing, 
who in turn carried the tidings to Jamestown in time to 
alarm the nearest settlers. In one hour 349 persons were 
cut off scarcely knowing how the}' fell; six of these were 
members of the Council and many of them, the most eminent 
and respectaVjle inhabitants. 

"The retaliatory deceit practiced by the colonists has 
been greatly overated; through the cloud of passion and 
surprise exercised by the massacre, the truth could not be 
easily discerned. •''^ 

35 Rich Pace, of "Pace's Pains," whose son, George Pace, after the massacre 
married the daughter of Maycock. 
s' Belknap. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 407 

Smith says " The contemplation and endurance of cruelty 
tends to make one cruel, yet to the honor of the colonists 
be it remembered that eVen during the prevalence of these 
hostilities, a deliberate attempt to cozen or subjugate a 
body of Indians was prosecuted as an offence against the 
law of God, and laws of nature and nations." 

Smith gives a list of the slain. ^* 

At Captain John Berkeley's plantation, seated at the 
Falling Creek sixty-six miles from James City, himself and 
twenty-one others; at Master Sheffield's plantation, 3 miles 
from Falling Creek, himself and twelve others ; at Henrico 
islands two miles from Sheffield's plantation, 6; slain of the 
college people twenty miles from Henrico, 17; at Charles 
City, and of Captain Smith's men, 5; at the next adjoining 
plantation, 8; at William Farrar's house, 10; at Brickley^^ 
Hundred, 50 miles from Charles City, Master George Thorpe 
and ten more. 

This last-named gentleman had left a handsome estate 
and an honorable employment in England and was 
appointed chief manager of a plantation and seminary 
designed for the maintenance and education of young 
Indians in Virginia. He was one of the best friends of the 
Indians and had been earnestly concerned in the business 
of instructing and evangelizing, and remarkably kind and 
generous to them. It was by his exertion, that the house 
was built in which Opecancanough took so much pleasure. 
He was warned of his danger by one of his servants, who 
immediately made his escape, but Mr. Thorpe would not 
believe that they intended him any harm and thus fell an 
easy victim to their fury. Thorpe was a kinsman of Sir 
Thomas Dale. 

98 History p. 149. 

3' As Berkeley, seat of the Harrisons. 



408 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

At Westover, a mile from Brickley, 2 ; at Master John 
Wests' plantation, 2; at Capt Nathaniel Wests' plantation, 
2; at Richard Owen's house, himself and 6 more; at Lieu- 
tenant Gibb's plantation, 12; at Master Owen Macar's 
house, himself and 3 more; at Martin's Hundred, seven 
miles from James City, 73 ; at another place, 7 ; at Edward 
Bonits' plantation, 50; at Master Waters' house himself and 

4 more; at Apamatuck's river at Master Perse's plantation, 

5 miles from the college, 4; 

Nathaniel Causie was severely wounded, at "Causey's 
Care." At Master Maycock's dividend, Capt. Sam'l 
Maycock and 4 more; at Flowerda Hundred, Sir Geo. 
Yeardley's plantation, 6; on the opposite side to it, 7; at 
Master Swinhow's house, himself and 7 more; at Master 
Wm. Bickar's house, himself and 4 more; at Weanock of 
Sir George Yeardley's people, 21; at Powell Brooke, Capt. 
Nathaniel Powell and 12 more; (Powell had married the 
daughter of Wm. Tracy, and she was killed with her husband) ; 
at Southampton Hundred, 5 ; at Martin's Brandon Hun- 
dred, 7 ; at Captain Henry Spilman's house,*" 2 ; at Ensign 
Spence's house, 5 ; at Master Perse's by Mulberr}^ island, 
himself and 4 more; the whole number three hundred and 
forty-nine. Edward Lister was among the killed.'*^ 

When the news of the massacre was carried to England, 
the governor and colony were considered as subjects of 
blame, by those very persons who had enjoined them to 
treat the Indians with mildness. 

"An effect of the massacre was the ruin of the Iron-works 
at Falling Creek, where the destruction was so complete 
that of twenty-four people, only a boy and girl escaped 

*° Beverley. Captain Spelman at "Cekacawone." 
<i Beverley. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 409 

by hiding themselves. The superintendent of this work 
had discovered a vein of lead ore, which he kept to himself, 
but made use of it to supply himself and friends with shot. 
The knowledge of this was lost by his death for many years. 
It was found by Col. Byrd and again lost, and a third 
time found by John Chiswell. 

A consequence also of this fatal event, was an order from 
the government, to draw together the remnant of the 
people into a narrow compass. Of eighty plantations all 
were abandoned but six, which lay contiguous, at the 
lower part of James River; Shirle}^ Hundred, Flowerda 
Hundred, Jamestown, Paspiha,Kiquotan and Southampton. 
The owners or overseers of three or four others refused to 
obey tlie order, intrenching themselves in their quarters 
and mounting cannon for their defence. Among these 
persons was Mr. Edward Hill at Elizabeth City. 

"Samuel Jordan gathered together but a few of the 
stragglers about him at Beggar's Bush,'^^ his place, where 
he fortified and lived despite of the enemy." Governor 
Wyatt wrote from Virginia in April 1622, a month after 
the massacre, "that he thought fit to hold a few outlying 
places including the Plantation of Mr. Samuel Jourdans, 
but to abandon others and concentrate the Colonists at 
Jamestown." (Capt. Samuel Jordan, who 'married Cicely 
, died 1623.) 

"One Mrs. Proctor, a gentlewoman of an heroic spirit, 
defended her plantation a month, till the officers of the 
Colony obliged her to abandon it, when she left, the savages 
burnt her house down." 

< 2 Jordan called his place "Beggar's Bush," after the title of one of Fletcher's 
comedies, but it was afterwards known as "Jordan's Point" lying in Prince 
George County, and a soat of the revolutionary patriot, Richard Bland. Jordan's 
Plantation was also called "Jordan's Jomey." 



410 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

"At Warrasqueake, Baldwin, a colonist, defended himself 
and saved his family." 

Another colonist, Harrison, together with Thoinas 
Hamor and twenty-two others successfully drove the 
Indians away, using spades, axes and brickbats, having 
barricaded themselves in a new house Harrison was build- 
ing; thus escaped the savage onslaught. Mr. Daniel Gookin 
"the Master Gookin out of Ireland who, with fifty men of 
his own and thirty Passengers baptized the shamrock in 
the blue and teeming waters of the harbour landed at 
Newport News, and established a settlement, he named 
"Mary's Mount:" — with 35 men, protected his place 
against the Indians and the attempts of the officers to 
eject him. 

Beverley gives in his list of the killed ; the name of Cap- 
tain Norton "a valiant industrious gentleman, adorned 
with good qualities, besides Physicke and Chirurgery." 
"Captain Newce*^ and his wife, then living in Elizabeth City 
shewed great liberality to the sufferers. vSeveral of the 
families, whose homes had been broken up, escaped to 
North Carolina, where they settled." 

When the General Assembly met in 1623-4 among their 
enactments was one "that the twenty-second of March be 
yeerly solemnized as a hoUiday''^^ (the first institution of 
a public thanksgiving in the country) ; for the memory 
of the slaughter of their companions still overshadowed 
the remaining settlers. 

As years rolled by and the Indians became weakened by 
successions of hostilities, they lost nothing of their skill 

^3 Beverley writes this name Nuse. 
« Hening, Vol. II, p. 138. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGIXIA HISTORY 411 

in warfare; with the decrease of their numbers, they seemed 
to grow more cunning and vindictive. 

Opechancanough Hved to plan and execute a second 
massacre in 1644, which Beverley tells, cost the loss of 
five hundred colonists. 

Meeting in 1645, the Grand Assembly felt called 
upon to record their thanks of deliverance from destruction, 
marking the 1 8th day of April a thanksgiving for escape from 
the Indians and general holiday, as well as the former day. 
This special law " enacted and confirmed by the authorities 
of this present Grand Assembly that the two and twentieth 
day of March and the eighteenth day of April be yearly 
kept holie in commemoration of our deliverance from the 
Indians at the bloody massacres, the twenty-second day 
of March, 1621 (O. S.), and the eighteenth of April, i644."'*'' 

Even after the capture and death of their chief, Opechan- 
canough, their warfare continued until a treaty was effected 
by Sir William Berkeley on October 5, 1646, with Necoto- 
wance, called " King of the Indians," — who had succeeded 
Opechancanough, — by which he agreed to hold his 
authority from the King of England, while the Assembly 
engaged to protect him from his enemies, for which he was 
to deliver to the governor a yearly tribute of twent}^ 
beaver skins at the departure of the wild geese. 

It was further agreed that the Indians should occupy 
the country on the north side of York River and to cede 
to the English all the country between the York and the 
James, from the falls to the Chesapeake forever. 

It was death for an Indian to be found within this terri- 
tory, unless sent as a messenger, and these were to be ad- 
mitted into the colony by means of badges of striped cloth. 

^ Hening, Vol. I, p. 459. 



412 Bl'-n'.4y'5 OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

« 

For the white man it was felony to be found on the Indian 
hunting ground, which was to extend from the head of 
Yapin, the Blackwater, to the old Mann akin town on the 
James. 

Badges would be received at Forts Royal and Henry. 
Fort Royal was on the Pamunkey. Fort Henry was 
established at the falls of Appomattox — ^now the site of 
Petersburg — Fort Charles at the falls of James River, and 
Fort James on the Chickahominy : this was under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Thomas Rolfe,"*** thesonof Pocahontas. 

Thus the Indians were at last excluded from their father 
land and the colonists, having secured the right of possession, 
snjoyed the prosperity it yielded them. 

A slight uprising of the Rappahannocks was soon quelled 
and the whites and neighboring Indians remained on good 
terms. But in 1656 a fierce tribe of Recahechrians came 
down from the mountains and fortified themselves at the 
falls of the James with about seven hundred warriors. 

For the possession of this point there had long been 
contention. An expedition of whites was sent to dislodge 
the intruders, but failed in the attempt and it was found 
necessary to send another. The second expedition was put 
under the command of Col. Edward Hill, who was rein- 
forced b}'' subject Indians, Totopotomoi, chief of Pamunkey 
with 100 warriors. These troops met with disastrous defeat, 
the brave chief and most of his men being slain during the 
struggle. The name of Bloody Run, near Richmond, is 
supposed to commemorate this sanguinar}' battle. 

After the restoration of Charles II. to the English throne, 
numerous acts relating to the Indians were reduced into 
Dne: 

<^ In 1G41 Thomas Rolfe petitioned the governor for permission to visit his kinsman 
Opechancanough and Cleopatre, his aunt. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 413 

1. Ordering the English seated near to assist them in 
'"encing their cornfields. 

2. Prohibiting trade with them without license. 

3. Imprisonment of an Indian Chief without a warrant. 

4. Badges of silver and copper plate were to be furnished 
Indian chiefs, and no Indian was to enter English confines 
without a badge, under penalty of imprisonment till ran- 
somed by one hundred arm's length of shell-money. 

5. Indian Chiefs, tributary^ to the English must give 
alarm at the approach of hostile Indians. 

6. Indians could not be sold as slaves.*^ 

One of the metal badges, used by the tribe Potomeck, 
called a " Token of Amity " is to be seen at the rooms of the 
Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, of which the cut 
here given is a reproduction. 

In the enforcement of law, the colonial government 
endeavored to deal justly by the Indians ; and it sometimes 
happened that false charges were brought against them. 

"Wahanganoche, Chief of Potomack, charged with treason 
and murder by Captain Charles Brent, before the Assembty, 
was acquitted and Brent as well as Captain George Mason 
and others were required to pay the chief a certain sum in 
roanoke, or matchcoats (from matchkore, deerskin) in 
satisfaction of injuries. 

"This chief and other northern werowances and mangais 
were required to give hostages of their children and others 
who were to be kindly treated and instructed in English as 
far as practicable. The chief of Potomac was inhibited 
from holding any matchacomico or council, with any 
strange tribe before the delivery of hostages." 

<7 Hening, Vol. II, p. 138. 




Token of Amity. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 415 

The tributary Indians of Virginia at this period were:^** 

Bowmen or hunters 

Nansemond County 45 

Powchay-icks 30 



Surrey County x „^ , 

•^ -^ ' Weyenoakes 15 



I Men Heyricks 50 



Charles City County < Nottoways, two towns... 90 

I Appomattox 50 

Manachees 30 



Henrico County ^ t^ , ., 

Powhites 10 

^ Pamunkeys 50 

I Chickahommies 60 

New Kent County ^ Mataponeys 20 

I Rappahannocks 30 

[ Totas-Chees 40 

Gloucester County Chiskoyaches . 15 

[ Portobaccoes 60 

Rappahannock County.. . . < Nanzcattico | 

( Mattchatique | ^° 

Northumberland County. . . . Wickacomico 70 

Westmoreland County Appomattox : . . . . 10 



Altogether 725 

In 1672 the assembly provided for the defense of the 
country by repairing forts. 

Vigorous laws were enacted for the recover}^ of runaways 
and rewards were offered the Indians for arresting such. 
All freemen were bound to muster in their own counties, 
the entire available force consisting of 8,000 horsemen. 

Provision was made for a supply of arms and ammunition. 

"CampbeU, p. 264. 



416 BY WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

At this date the Indians were in perfect subjection: birt 
in a few years they renewed their incursions upon the fron- 
tier, and though not now causing danger of destruction to the 
whole colony, the frontier people were greatly harassed, and 
the united strength was required to repel the invaders. 

For the special protection of that section, on March 7, 
1675, 3. standing army of 100 men was raised by the Assem- 
bly ; and before the embroilment of the civil war. Bacon 
with volunteer forces, had been successful in opposing 
the hostile Indians, taking many captive and burning their 
towns. 

At the meeting of the Assembly March, 1676, war was 
declared against the hostiles, 500 men enlisted and the 
forts were garrisoned. Sir Henry Chicheley, put in com- 
mand, was ordered to disarm all savages; martial law was 
put in force ; days of fasting were appointed. 

But when the troops were about to march in obedience 
to orders, Gov. Berkeley disbanded them, to the general 
dissatisfaction of the colony. Conditions grew worse, no 
man ventured out of doors unarmed ; even Jamestown was 
in danger. At length the country people, banded together, 
arose in tumultuous self-defence. 

After forming his government at Jamestown, Bacon again 
proceeded against the savages, now combined in a confed- 
eracy, and destroyed the Pamunkey, Chickahominy and 
Mataponi towns in retaliation for depredations. 

"The Indian disturbances increasing, Berkeley directed the 
house to take measures to defend the country. While the 
committee on Indian afifairs was sitting, the Queen of 
Pamunkey, a descendant of Opechancanough, was intro- 
duced: accompanied by an interpreter and her son, a 
youth of twenty years, she entered the room with graceful 




Froxtlet of Queen of Pamunkey. 
(Copyrighted by S. T. Hanger, 1906.) 



418 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

dignity- She was clothed in a mantle of dressed buckskin — 
the fur outward and bordered with a deep fringe— from 
head to foot. Around her head she wore a plait of black 
and white wampum-peake, a drilled purple bead of shell, 
three inches wide, after the manner of a crown. 

"Being seated the chairman asked her, 'How many men 
she would lend the English for guides and allies?' In 
answer she burst forth in an impassioned speech of fifteen 
minutes' length often repeating the words' Totopotomoi 
dead' alluding to her husband's death while fighting under 
Col. Hill, the elder. The chairman, untouched by the 
scene, repeated the inquiry. She sat silent till the question 
was asked the third time when she replied in a low tone 
'Six.' When further importuned she agreed to give 
'Twelve;' having then in her town one hundred and fifty 
warriors. " 

In 1677 the Indians properly belonging to Virginia had 
been effectually subdued and Jeffries, now governor, suc- 
ceeded in making a treaty with the westei-n tribes by which 
they bound themselves to terms of friendship with the 
whites. A number of tribes were included in this treaty, 
concluded at Middle Plantation, and ratified with all due 
solemnity; and by the articles of peace, each town was to 
pay three arrows for their land and twenty beaver skins 
for protection every year. In commemoration of services 
rendered, after this treaty of peace, there was presented to 
the Queen of Pamunkey a velvet cap representing a crown, 
ornamented with a silver frontlet.-'"'' 

Of the remnant of Indians left in Virginia at the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century Beverley gives the following 
list. "Those east of the Blue Ridge are almost wasted; 

" CampbeU. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 419 

they live poorly and much in fear of neighboring tribes. 
Each town by the articles of peace, 1677, pays three Indian 
arrows for their land and twenty beaver skins for protec- 
tion every year. — In Accomack are eight towns, viz: 

1. Mantonikin; decreased by small-pox. 

2. Gingoteague ; joined with a Maryland nation. 

3. Kiequotank; reduced to a few men. 

4. Matchopungo; a small number. 

5. Occahanock; a small number. 

6. Pungoteque; a small nation, governed by a queen. 

7. Oanancock; four or five families. 

8. Chiconessex; very few, who just keep the name. 

— Nanduye; a seat of the empress, not above twenty 
families, but she hath all the nations of the shore under 
tribute. 

— In Northampton ; Gangascoe, which is almost as numer- 
ous as all the foregoing nations put together. 

— In Prince George ; Weyomoke is extinct. 

— In Charles City; Appomattox is extinct. 

— In Surry; 100 bowmen, of late, thriving and increasing. 

— By Nansemond; Meheering, thirty bowmen, who keep 
at a stand. 

Nansemond, thirty bowmen, who have increased of late. 

— In King William's County; Pamunkie has forty bow- 
men, who decrease. 

Chickahominie had about sixteen bowmen, lately in- 
creased. 

— In Essex; Rappahannock, extinct. 

— In Richmond; Port Tobago, extinct. 

— In Northumberland; Wiccomocco has but few men 
living, which yet keep up their kingdom and retain their 
fashion, yet live by themselves, separate from all other 
Indians and from the English. 



420 BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 

Col. Byrd writes in his journal that in 1728 "including 
women and children the Indians numbered but 200." 

Jefferson found twenty or thirty members on Pamunkey 
and Nottoway Rivers, the last in King William and South- 
ampton, degraded by intermarriage with a lower race. 

May 20th, 1740, William Bohannon made oath that "about 
twenty-six of ye Sapony Indians that inhabit on Col. Spots- 
wood's land in Fox' neck go about and do a great deal of 
mischief." 

The Pamunkeys at Indian town on the Pamunkey River 
are thus described in 1759; "On the north side of the 
river stands the Pamunkey town where at present are the 
few remains of that large tribe, the rest having dwindled 
away through intemperance and disease. 

" They live in little wigwams or cabins upon the river and 
have a fine tract of about 2,000 acres of land which they 
are restrained from alienating by act of Assembly, their 
land being in the hands of trustees appointed to hold it for 
the tribe. ^' Their employment is chiefly hunting or fish- 
ing for the neighboring gentry. They also manufacture 
pottery and baskets very neatly." 

"Many years ago the Pamunkeys tried to emigrate west, 
but were caught in a severe winter near Fredericksburg. 
They were greatly aided during the winter by Mr. Alexander 
Morson, of Falmouth, and in the spring, when they deter- 
mined to go back to their old home, they gave or sold 
what is now called the Indian Crown to Mr. Morson. 
This relic was purchased from his heirs by the Society 
for Preservation of Virginia Antiuqities."''" It is now ex- 
hibited at the rooms of the Virginia Historical Society. 

'I Howe's Antiquities. 

52 Mr. W. G. Staudard, Librarian, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond. 



BY-WAYS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY 421 

A description of this Indian ornament, accompanied by 
an engraved representation, appeared in the Family 
Magazine, 1838, by J. M., at Fredericksburg. "A silver 
frontlet obviously part of a crown. The engraving upon 
it is first, the crest, surmounted by a lion passant. The 
Escutcheon, as delineated, field argent. Beneath this is a 
scroll, containing the words 'The Queene of Pamunkey.' 
Those nondescript things in the dexter, chief and sinister 
base quarters, are lions passant and the whole is bordered 
with a wreath. Just within the wreath is inscribed 'Charles 
the Second, King of England, Scotland, France, Ireland 
and Virginia.' Within that, the words 'Honi soit quimaly 
pense.'" 

"The Pamunkey tribe still occupies its old ground in 
King William County; exercising to a certain extent 
its own laws." — When writing his history • in 1845, Howe 
learned there were about 100 descendants of the Pamun- 
keys, but their Indian character was nearly extinct by 
intermixing with whites and negroes. Also he was told of 
a remnant of the Mattapony, fifteen or twenty in number. 

(The junction of the Pamunkey and Mattapony form the 
York River; at the point of juncture, now known as West 
Point, Opechancanough, King of Pamunkey had his habita- 
tion.) The only other tribe was the Nottoways on the river 
of the same name: they held a reservation of good land 
about fifteen miles square near Jerusalem, in Southampton, 
a county watered by the Meherrin, Nottoway and Black- 
water Rivers. 

Now "the vanquished hunter scarcely leaves a trail." 



APPENDIX. 

List of Presidents, Govermors, etc., of Virginia. 

1607. Edw. Maria Wingfield Fiesident 

1607. John Ratcliffe 

1608. John Smith 

160Q. George Percy 

1609. Thos. West, Lord Delaware Governor 

161 1. Thomas Dale High Marshal 

1 616. George Yeardley Lieut-Governor 

161 7. Samuel Argall " " 

1 61 9. George Yeardley Governor 

1 62 1. Francis Wyatt 

1626. George Yeardley 

1627. Francis West ' 

1628. John Potts 

1629. John Harvey 

1635. John West 

1635. John Harvey 

1639. Francis Wyatt 

1 64 1. William Berkeley 

1645. Richard Kemp Lieut-Governor 

1645. William Berkeley Governor 

1652. Richard Bennett 

1656. Edward Digges 

1658. Samuel Matthews 

1660. William Berkeley 

1677. Herbert Jeffries Lieut -Governor 

1677. Herbert Jeffries Governor 

1678. Henry Chicheley " 

1679. Thomas, Lord Culpeper 

1680. Henry Chicheley Lieut-Governor 

1684. Lord Howard of Effingham Governor 

1689. Nathaniel Bacon Lietit-Govemor 

1690. Francis Nicholson " " 



APPENDIX 



423 



1692. 
1698. 
1704. 

1705- 
1706. 
1710. 
1710. 
1722. 
1726. 
1727. 
1749- 
1749- 
1750- 
1752. 
1758- 
1758. 
1768. 
1768. 
1770. 
1772. 
1776. 

17,79- 
1781. 
1781. 

1784. 
1786. 
1788. 
1791. 
1794. 
1796. 
1799. 
1802. 
1805. 
1808. 
1811. 
1811. 
1812. 
1814. 



Edmtind Andros Governor 

Francis Nicholson " 

Earl of Orkney 

Edward Nott Lieut-Governor 

Edmund Jennings 

Robert Hunter 

Alexander Spotswood 

Hugh Drysdale 

Robert Carter 

William Gooch 

Robinson 

Lord Albemarle Governor 

Louis Burwell Lieut-Governor 

Robert Dinwiddie 

John Blair " " 

Francis Fauquier Governor 

John Blair Lieut -Governor 

Norborne Berkley De Botetourt Governor 

William Nelson Lieut-Governor 

John, Lord Dunmore Governor 

Patrick Henry. . Governor of the State of Virginia 

Thomas Jefferson " 

Thomas Nelson " 

Benjamin Harrison 

Patrick Henry 

Edmund Randolph 

Beverley Randolph "" 

Henry Lee " 

Robert Brooke " 

James Wood " 

James Monroe " 

John Page 

Wm. H. Cabell 

John Tyler 

James Monroe " 

George W. Smith " 

James Barbour " 

Wilson Carey Nicholas " 



424 



APPENDIX 



1816. Jas. P. Preston Governor of the State of Virginia 

1819. Thos. M. Randolph 

1822. James Pleasants. 

1825. John Tyler 

1827. Wm. B. Giles 

1829. John Floyd 

1833. Littleton W. Tazewell 

1836. Wyndhani Robertson Lieut-Governor 

1837. David Campbell Governor 

1840. Thos. W. Gilmer 

1841. John M. Patton Lieut-Governor 

1841. John Rutherford " 

1842. John M. Gregory " 

1843. James McDowell Governor 

1846. Wm. Smith 

1849. Jno. B. Floyd " 

185 1. John Johnson " 

1852. Joseph Johnson " 

1856. Henry A. Wise " 

t86o. John Letcher " 



APPENDIX 425 



COUNTY FORMATIONS. 

The eight Coionties first formed in 16,^4 were 

1. James City; with York River on its northern. James ir'V>r 
on its southern boundary. Of its towns, Jamestown, on a p(.n;t 
projecting into the James, was settled, 1607. 

Middle Plantation settled in 1632, called Williamsburg at its 
selection as the capital, 1698. 

2. Henrico; on the James and Chickahominy Rivers. Henrico 
town, established i6ri, called in honor of Prince Henry and from 
the town originated the name of the coimty. 

3. Elizabeth City; Hampton, on Hampton Roads, established 
1705. Old Point Comfort discovered and named, 1607. 

4. Warwick River; (changed to Warw'ick in 1642) on the penin- 
sula between York and James ri^'ers. 

5. W arrosquoyacki (changed to Isle of Wight in 1637) Smithfield 
established 1752, named for the original owner of the land. 

6. Charles River; changed to York in 1642) on Chesapeake bay 
and York river. Yorktown, established 1705. 

7. Charles City; originally on both sides of James river, now 
reduced, with the James on the south and the Chickahominy on 
the east and north. In this county is Byrd's seat of Westover. 

8. Accawmacke; (changed to Northampton in 1642). 

Upper Norfolk, formed March, 1645, changed to (Nansiman, 

Northumberland formed October 1648 

Surry " April 1652 

Gloucester " November 1652 

Lancaster " November 1652 

Westmoreland " July 1653 

New Kent " November 1654 

Rappahannock " December 1656 

Stafford " October 1666 

Accomac, new county from Northampton " 1672 

Middlesex, from Lancaster " 1675 



426 APPENDIX 

Lower Norfolk, divided to form two new counties, Norfolk 

and Princess Anne 

King and Queen, from Neiv Kent 

Rappahannock, divided (became extinct) 

" "to form Richmond and Essex 

Kiing William, from King and Queen 

Prince George, from Charles City County . . . 

Spotsyh'ania, from ^ssex. King William and ) 
King and Queen, established, 1721, j 

Brmisitick, from Surry and Isle of Wight.. ^ November 

King George, from Richmond County " 

Hanover, from Neiu Kent " 

Caroline, from Ess£X, King and Queen, and King 

William 

Goochland , from Henrico February 

Prince William, from Stafford and King George. . .May 

^Orange, from Spotsylvania January 

Amelia, from Prince George and Brunswick August 

Frederick, from Orange November 

Augusta, from Orange 

Fairfax, from Prince William May 

Louisa, from Hanover May 

'^Albemarle, from Goochland September 

^Lunenburg, from Brunswick Februar>- 

Halifax, from Lunenburg. '. May 

Dinwiddie, from Prince George 

Hampshire, from Augusta and Frederick " 

Bedford, from Lunenburg 

Prince Edward, from Amelia January 

Sussex, from Surry February 

Loudon, from Fairfax J^^ly 

Fauquier, from Prince William. 

Amherst, from Albemarle May 

Buckingham, from Albemarle 

Charlotte, from Lunenburg March 

Mecklenburg, from Lunenburg 



691 

692 
701 

702 



720 
720 
720 



727 
730 
734 
734 
738 
738 
742 
742 
744 
745 
752 
752 
754 
753 
754 
754 
757 
7 59 
761 
761 
765 
765 



1 Est. 1735. 

2 Est. 174.5. 
a Est. 1746. 



APPENDIX 427 

Pittsylvania, from Halifax ' June 1767 

Botetourt, from Augusta January ^77° 

Cumberland, from Goochland 1 748 

Southampton, from Isle of Wight 1748 

Chesterfield, from Henrtco 1 748 

Berkley, from Frederick May 1772 

Dunmore, from Frederick " 1772 

Changed by Act of Assembly to ] 

Shenando or Shenandoah, j ''' 

Fincastle, from Botetourt December 1772 

divided by Act of Assembly, 1776, into Kentucky, Wash- 
ington and Montgomery, and name of Fincastle County 
became extinct. 

Henry, from Pittsylvania December 1776 

West Augusta District, froin Augusta County October 1776 

Ohio, from West Aiigiista District November 1776 

Yohogama, from West Augusta District " 1776 

by extension of the West boundary of Pennsylvania the 
greater part fell within the limits of tha^t state and the 
residue was, by Act of 1785, added to Ohio County and 
Yohogania became extinct. 

Powhatan, from Cttmberland July 17 77 

Fluvanna, from Albemarle " i777 

M onongahelia , from West Augusta District 1776 

Rockingham, from Augusta March 1778 

Rockbridge, from Augusta and Botetourt 1778 

Greenbrier, from Montgotnery and Botetourt 1778 

Illinois, of territory on West side of Ohio Ri\-er and adjacent 

to the Mississippi October 1778 

Jefferson, from Kentucky .November 1780 

Fayette, from Kentucky 1 780 

Lincoln, from Kentucky 1 780 

Kentucky County then became extinct. 

Greenesville, from Brunsivick February 1781 

^Campbell, from Bedford " 1782 

Harrison, from Monongahelia •. . Jul}- 1784 

Nelson, from Jefferson " 1758 

^Franklin, from Bedford and Henry 1784 

<Est. Oct. 1785. 



428 APPENDIX 

Hardy, from Hampshire February 1 786 

Bourbon, from Fayette May 1786 

Russell, from Washington " 1786 

Mercer, from Lincoln August • 1786 

Madison, from Lincoln " 1786 

Randolph, from Harrison May 1787 

Pendleton, from Augusta, Hardy and Rockingham . " 1788 

Mason, from Bourbon " 1789 

Woodford, from Fayette " 1 789 

Kanawha, from Greenbrier and Alontgomery October 1789 

Nottoway, from Amelia May 1789 

Wythe, from Montgomery " 1 790 

Patrick, from Henry June 1791 

Matthews, from Gloucester May 1791 

Bath, irom Augvista, Botetourt and Greenbrier " 1791 

Lee, from Russell " i793 

Madison, (2d of the name) from Culpeper " i793 

Grayson, from Wythe " 1 793 

Charlotte, from Lunenburg 1 794 

Brooke, from Ohio County i797 

Monroe, from Greenbrier 1 799 

Wood, from Harrison 1 799 

Jefferson (2d of the name), from Berkeley 1801 

Mason, from Kanawha 1804 

Nelson, (2d of the name) from Amherst 1807 

Cabell, from Kanawha 1809 

Gtles, from Monroe and Tazewell 1806 

Tyler, from Ohio 1814 

Scott, from Lee, Washington and Russell 1814 

Lewts, from Harrison 1816 

Preston , from Monongaha 1818 

Nicolas, from Kanawha. Greenbrier and Randolph 1818 

Morgan, from Hampshire and Berkeley 1820 

Pocahontas, from Bath, Pendleton and Randolph 1821 

Alleghany, from Bath, Botetourt and Monroe 1822 

Logan, from Giles, K'tinawha, Cabell and Tazewell 1824 

Jackson, from Mason, Kanawha and Wood 183 1 

Floyd, from M ontgomery 183 1 



APPENDIX 429 

Fayette (2d of the name) from Logan, Greenbrter, 



J Q , 1 

Nicolas and Kanawha, ] 

Page, from Rockingham and Shenandoah 1831 

Rappahannock, from Culpeper 1831 

Smyth, from T^ai-/?ingtow and Wythe ■ 183 1 

Clarke, from Frederick 1836 

Marshall, from O/t-io 1835 

Mercer, from G^-j/^5 and Tazewell 1837 

Braxton, from Lewis, Kanawha and Nicholas 1836 

Warren, from Frederick and Shenandoah 1836 

Greene, from w^5f ^arf 0/ Orange 1838 

Roanoke, from Botetourt 1839 

Pulaski, from Montgomery and Wythe 1839 

Carroll, from 5. w. ^arf 0/ Grayson 1842 

Marion, from Harrison and Monongahelia 1842 

Barbour, from Harrison, Lewis and Randolph 1843 

Ritchie, from Harrison, Lewis and Wood. 1843 

Wayne, from ^. w. ^ari 0/ Cabell 1842 

Taylor, from Harrison, Barbour and Marion 1844 

Appomattox, from Prince Edward, Charlotte and 

Campbell 1 845 

Dodridge, from Harrison, Tyler, Rttchie and Lewis 1845 

Gilmer, from Lewis and Kanawha 1845 

Alexandria, from District of Columbia 1846 

Highland, from 5ai/i and Pendleton 1847 

Craig, from Botetourt, Roanoke and G"t7^5 1850 

W«^, from Russell, Scott and Le^ 1856 

Buchanan, from Russell and Tazewell 1858 

Bland, from Wythe, Giles and Tazewell i860 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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